Inno’s first book, A is for Activist, started a movement in social justice book publishing for children. After it came Counting on Community, then My Night in the Planetarium and The Wedding Portrait. M is for Movement is the fifth title written and illustrated by Innosanto Nagara.

A is for Activist - Innosanto Nagara - Google Books

The only solution that has a chance of success is the empowerment of the parent and the home and the elimination of a top-heavy, inefficient, and wasteful educational bureaucracy.Such will be a slow and intermittent process, failing which ongoing academic – and cultural – decline is inevitable. I have to agree with other people here... this book is really for the adults who want to feel good about themselves. A is for Activist thus became our big project for 2020 that would eventually serve as “one common resource” for the entire school, while instilling pride and motivation in our middle school students. In addition to making this video for our school to use, one big bonus that came out of this project was that we were able to create an ASL accessible resource for other schools, educators and students to use as well. A is for Activistis an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. We are proud to join over 400 signatories, including 16fellow publishers, over 50 bookstores, nearly 80 organizations, and over 250 authors, teachers and librarians, to sign the National Coalition Against Censorship's statement against censorship in schools, and in support of historically marginalized students.The alliteration and rhymes have the rhythm and fun of standard ABC books, burrowing into little ears and prompting memorization and spontaneous recitation.” — YES! Magazine As his child grew past board book age, Inno started to write (and illustrate) picture books. His first was My Night in the Planetarium, a true story from his childhood in Indonesia about Art, and Resistance. That was followed by The Wedding Portrait,about why sometimes we break the rules. His latest book is a highly-illustrated early middle grade chapter book titled M is for Movement aka Humans Can’t Eat Golf Balls. I wish this beautiful and inspiring book was around when my daughter was young, but fortunately there were plenty of cool children around today who will devour what Inno is serving up!" —Dan Zanes, Grammy Award-winning artist of Catch that Train!

A is for Activist | Penguin Random House Elementary Education A is for Activist | Penguin Random House Elementary Education

Hill, Corey (2012-11-14). "A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara". Yes! Magazine . Retrieved 2017-06-01. I wish this beautiful and inspiring book was around when my daughter was young, but fortunately there were plenty of cool children around today who will devour what Inno is serving up!” —Dan Zanes, Grammy Award-winning artist of Catch that Train! A happy and well educated child is the optimum goal for early education.That such an aim is conspicuous by its absence and remains differentially elusive should not deter us from the struggle to achieve it as best we can.In the long run, happiness comes with work, integrity, self-respect, and mental discipline.These are qualities that the institutional monolith cannot foster.So I will teach my children to be honorable human beings first. I will not mention anything in this book to them until they have enough of an understanding of morality and social interactions to be able to make their own calls on what seems right and what seems wrong. Then I will be confident that I have raised a conscious citizen of the planet, rather than someone who repeats a complex viewpoint they have been hearing since before they could speak properly. As the National Coalition Against Censorship's statement (see below)concludes: Freedom of expression ensures that we can meet the challenges of a changing world. That freedom is critical for the students who will lead the world in the years ahead. We must fight to defend it. #BooksNotBans Such numbers are particularly problematic in the realm of children’s books, where artistic expression lives alongside educational imperative. Although the book is meant for ages 0-3, Rethinking Schools has suggested that it can even be used with older kids: “It could also be used as a prompt for older students to create their own alphabet books with a conscience.” This unique alphabet book encourages young readers to stand up for what they believe in, engage with their community, and become aware of the social movements going on around them, at any age. A is for Activist is an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for.

A is for activist : Nagara, Innosanto : Free Download, Borrow A is for activist : Nagara, Innosanto : Free Download, Borrow

However, I am such a fan of the idea, and I’m all for parents, teachers, babysitters, etc. adults enjoying kids’ books, that I could have forgiven the not so friendly for young kids vocabulary. Ik geef 3 sterren omdat ik de moral middleground inneem tussen de criticasters (veel te pedant! activistisch! hersenspoelend! onnavolgbaar taalgebruik! schreeuwerige stijl!) en de liefhebbers (toffe woordsequenties en -klanken, belangrijke concepten, het moet maar eens besproken zijn). Bovendien wil ik niet dat mijn dochter over 18 jaar deze recensie terugvindt en me moreel aansprakelijk stelt voor haar opvattingen, dus ik doe net alsof ik hier enorm enerzijds/anderzijds over denk. A is for Activist speaks to the possibilities of change, of proactive parenting, of creating community, and of celebrating our collective histories. This book is rad!" —Tomas Moniz, writer/editor Rad Dad, a zine on radical parenting I love the different topics that are touched upon: co-ops, grassroots, equal rights, LGBTQ, and peace marches. I feel like it could be a great way to introduce a child to these topics which could then lead into a deeper discussion if it piques their curiosity. My son is still too young to understand any of it, but he sees that I enjoy reading it to him and that makes him excited. It truly is a refreshing read! It's fun to read words that resonate and can be spoken passionately. Inno got his start as a student activist at UC Davis where he discovered his skills as a designer and photographer were effective contributions to organizing. After graduation he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he worked as a freelance designer for a range of activist organizations and campaigns until he joined Inkworks Press Collective in 1995. It was during his time at Inkworks that he started developing the Graphic Design for Social Change principles that have guided his work ever since. In 2002 he launched Design Action Collective. Modeled after Inkworks, Design Action was to be a worker-owned collective union design and strategic communications firm dedicated to serving the Movement for Social Change. The following year, Inno proposed what was to become Designs on Democracy: Communication for Liberation—a national convening of design and communications activists aiming to share strategies and build community.

A former colleague posted a photo of a children’s book as her Facebook profile picture – A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara. A board book about activism? Yes! Thus, far too many students who emerge from these incubators, whether they are conscious of it or not, suffer not only from mental sluggishness, but from a kind of psychic immiseration.They compensate by trying to persuade themselves that they are useful and enlightened citizens when, for the most part, they are merely antisocial drones.The gene pool is not being chlorinated, as Wendy Northcutt suggests in her 2009 Darwin Awards romp; on the contrary, it is being increasingly contaminated. Rona Renner(RN, Parent Educator, Host Childhood Matters RadioShow): Innosanto Nagara’s book “A is for Activist” is beautiful, inspiring, and offers an opportunity for parents to explore their values with their children. At this time in history we need books for children that use words like, justice, ally, freedom, and advocate. Our children are the activists who will help to heal the world. NCAC is joined by over 400 signatories, including nearly 80 organizations, over 50 bookstores and 17 publishers and over 250 individual stakeholders, comprising authors, teachers and librarians.

A is for Activist – Innosanto Nagara A is for Activist – Innosanto Nagara

This is a board book, so presumably geared toward babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, and their adults. The illustrations are colorful and interesting and while I’m not a huge fan of their style, I think many readers will like them, including young readers/listeners. However, the vocabulary is so advanced that while babies to preschoolers might enjoy the pictures and the cadence of the language, they’re not going to understand much of the text. Older kids will but they don’t need board books. There are the subtle ones ( I Walk with Vanessa), and the frank ones ( A Child’s First Book of Trump). There are those that are domestically focused ( We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices), and those published internationally ( Dear Donald Trump). Just to name a few. There’s now a whole spread of children’s books responding directly to the political landscape and the phenomenon of Donald Trump. A is for Activist is an ABC board book for the next generation of progressives: Families that want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and so on. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara – eBook DetailsBooks are windows and mirrors,” said early childhood education advocate Sara Rizik-Baer, paraphrasing the critic and scholar Rudine Sims Bishop. “They’re mirrors allowing children to see themselves represented, as well as windows into other people’s lives.” Children’s book author and illustrator Innosanto Nagara’s books encourage children to grow up with confidence in themselves, and to be proactive citizens who are passionate about causes from environmental issues to LGBTQ rights and civil rights. Born and raised in Indonesia, Inno moved to the US in 1988. After studying zoology and philosophy at UC Davis, Inno moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, working as a graphic designer for a range of social change organizations before founding the Design Action Collective, a worker-owned cooperative design studio. Inno lives in Oakland in a cohousing community with nine adults and eight kids. She works for Tandem, Partners in Early Learning, a Bay Area not-for-profit that helps supply classrooms with multicultural and multilingual children’s books. Since learning faces is a key part of early childhood development, representation is particularly critical there. Adventures in Public Schoolingmanages to hide the reality of mediocrity and indoctrination that characterizes the public school system under a veneer of lighthearted ebullience. In 2015, Inno wrote a follow-up board book, Counting on Community. Where A is for Activist is about the issues, Counting on Community is about how we live.