Photos from 6th Social Justice Children's Book Holiday Fair

 

Organizers of the fair: Me, Laura Atkins, Alejandra Domezain, Janine Macbeth, Peter Limata, Lydia Yamaguchi, Innosanto Nagara-not pictured) photo by Mark Rea

photo by Mark Rea

Breanna McDaniels w/ Hayley Diep , photo by Mark Rea

Me! photo by Mark Rea

If you missed the book fair but still want to buy books you can still purchase books from some of the vendors here

All the Fairs authors/illustrators , photo by Mark Rea

Screenshot from livestream Mr Limata w/ James Shields

photo by Janine Macbeth (Aida Salazar w/ Aya de Leon)

photo by Janine Macbeth (Mr Limata w/ Ko Kim)

For all those who missed the "6th annual "Social Justice Children's Book Holiday Fair" here are a few photos from the event. If you'd like to see more please go here.

Digging this? Check out the year we did it online during the pandemic or the Livestream Interviews W/ Mr Limata this year

VIDEO: My Favorite Art Books 3

 

Hey everyone its been awhile since I did one of these and I'm excited to share it.  The aim of these is to inspire you, inspire artists, young readers, and more. Art books to me are books using visual art, photography, design, collage, and words to highlight a topic, art form, person, place, genre, discipline, or medium. 

They are a great way to unplug when you've been staring at screens too long. They're great for traveling, road trips, flights, etc. They're great for getting inspired and they're a great way to get young people reading; as long as its about a topic they LOVE. Please watch and share.

I discuss 13 books in the video including my own art book:
"The Art of Tekkenkinkreet / Black & White" - Shinji Kimura
"Supreme Glamour"- Mary Wilson
"The Art of Juanjo Guarnido" - Juanjo Guarnido
"Shelter in Place" - Avy Jetter
"Dinotopia" - James Gurney
"Painting The Streets-Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion"- Nomadic Press
"Creations Vol. 1" - Derek Laufman
"Iguana Bay" - Claire Wendling
"Black Champions in Cycling" - Marlon Lee Moncrieffe
"Maestrapiece- San Francisco's Monumental Feminist Mural" -Heyday Books
"Art of Rob" - Robert Liu-Trujillo
"Prince of Cats" - Ronald Wimberly 

Dig this? Check out "My Favorite Art Books 2" the second video in this series. And if your local bookstore or library doesn't have any of the art books you're looking for, politely request them :)

If you'd like to purchase some of them I suggest ordering them from your local bookstore, Bookshop.org, or StuartNg Books in LA.

Steal Estate trailer

 

This is the last of the projects from the Rise Home Stories Project. My book Alejandria Fights Back was one of the 5. Each project, the book, video game, animated short, podcast, and now interactive website are creative projects with a theme. Check out this trailer about "Steal Estate". It will be an interactive website.

LINK to website 

Dig this? Check out this post featuring podcasts about housing discrimination

"Alvin Irby" Interview w/ Lurie Daniel Favors Show

I remember hearing about Alvin Irby many years ago and loving his mission for Barbershop Books because he's passionate about reading and you could tell he cares. In this episode of Lurie Daniels Favors radio show she interviews him about how he started, what drove him, and what advice he has for making readers out of your kids. 

Link to LISTEN

If you haven't already check out Barbershop Books!!

Dig this? Check out these lists of Bipoc owned bookstores Black owned, Latinx owned, and Asian American owned.

Postcard Deal 3

 

Here is a new set of postcards I just made featuring some figures from Black history, old 80s movies, and even one of my characters. 

Get a set of postcards here

Dig this? Check out the previous set of postcards

I Am The Subway- Kim Hyo-eun

 

I just checked out this book from a nearby library and I'm in love with the style of art and the story. It was originally published in Korea but has just been translated to english by Deborah Smith. Wow what an incredible picture book. I love how the title credits are introduced after the story begins. I love Kim's hand drawn traditional media style. 

GET THIS BOOK

Some more pages from the book:

Check out this book trailer

Dig this? Check out this post about Asian American owned bookstores

Spiderverse 2 Trailer

Video link

Yo, super excited to see this!! I LOVED "Into the SpiderVerse" with Miles Morales. Watched it with my son and my wife and was so inspired not only by the style of animation but the content and having an AFRO LATINO kid be the main protagonist of the story. If you havent seen the first one go watch it and show up for this one. Its important!

Dig this? Check out this drawing os Brenda Banks-animator and Sandra Equihua also an animator

 

Video: Interviews @ the "Social Justice Children's Book Holiday Fair"

 

Video link

This is some video footage featuring interviews from book creators, organizations, the organizers of the event, and the owner of Teance. Can we give it up for Peter Limata and Lydia Yamaguchi though? They just bring SO MUCH vibrancy, love, and care to what they capture and who they spoke to at the event!  Please watch and enjoy. If you did not get a chance to attend the fair in person you can still get books from the creators who were there and many others using our website 

LINK to the website

Video link 2

Here is more interviews Peter did leading up to the fair that morning. In this he speaks to Jill Guerra (We are Yoga/Somos Yoga), Christina Newhard of Sari Sari Books (KaliPay, Melo the Umang Boy), Breanna McDaniels (Hands Up), and John Casselberry (Konscious Kids).

Dig this? Check out the virtual 2020 Social Justice Children's Book Fair

Speaking w/ Prospect Sierra @ Pegasus Books

 

Yo, had a chance to speak and read to a bunch of families of the Prospect Sierra School in Berkeley California at Pegasus Books in support of a fundraiser for the school. This was only the second time I've presented about my work in relation to my art book "Art of Rob" and it was well received. Lots of young ones copped the book and I got to do some doodles in their books. 

Some of the topics we discussed in this presentation were:

• The power of representation in kid lit and media
• Literacy and the path to reading for fun
• My art, career timeline, family, and art inspiration
• Diverse Books, self publishing, and the publishing world
• Social justice movements, activism, and art

Pegasus books is an old bookstore based in Berkeley and Oakland. The Solano store has a huge selection of diverse kids books and I'm always like a kid in a candy store when I'm there. Prospect Sierra is an independent or private school in El Cerrito California. I have been doing school visits as a storyteller since 2012 and I worked as an arts teacher from 2002-2010. I don't miss being a teacher, but I do love talking to young people!

Dig this? I've been presenting to, reading to, and speaking with young people in presentations like these for more than a decade. Check out some photos from a public school reading at Bella Vista in Oakland, or Woodland Elementary in Oakland. 

Also, here's is a link to an interview I did for Rightnowish on KQED.

Photos by Prospect Sierra

Bobbito Garcia - Aim high little giant, aim high!

 

Man, shout out to Bobbito Garcia. The OG has a new picture book out called "Aim High Little Giant, Aim High!" published by We Are Little Giants. In this book he touches on self confidence, basketball history, gender, mathematics, and more. Check it out HERE.

I first came across Bob through his pioneering radio show with DJ Stretch Armstrong. I would hear little bits about them and their show but never actually hearing it since it aired in NYC. But, I know they inspired folks like Kevvy Kev at KZSU Stanford and Sway and Tech on the Wake Up Show who I definitely listened to. I would see Bob in Vibe magazine, music videos, on records (Fondle Em) and more. And when i started seeing his documentaries it all came together. Support this dude!

Dig this? Check out this feature of "Alejandria Fights Back" on Social Justice Books

Martín Alberto Gonzalez - Counter Storytelling

In this audio Martín breaks down some really dope ideas about how academia is challenging for first gen college students. He talks about how to empower these students by reminding them of the expertise and knowledge they possess, how to use more multimedia and multimodal approach when making an argument. This involves critical race theory, audio, and story telling!! Listen.

Check out this Oxnard professor's work here. 

Dig this? Check out this interview w/ Laura Briggs
 

Jerry Lawson - Google Doodle + game

 

This is really cool to see this man starting to get his dues and recognition. Props to Google for this one and much love to Jerry's kids Karen and Anderson for continuing to build on their fathers legacy so kids of all kinds can be inspired. More background on Jerry.

Dig this? Check out this painting of Jerry I did

Although this google doodle and others like it are awesome for celebrating hidden figures the fact that Google' workforce has such a tiny Black employee presence is fucked up. Peep this video