So this is new for the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair, for the first time we’re giving away an award to 3 authors the night before the fair. Check out the awardees.
These are the three writers!
Raquel Donoso
Mona Damluji
Maya Gonzalez
RSVP for the event here whether you’ve been coming to the fair for years, you’re new, or you really support the kid lit world. Also, come check out the 9th annual Social Justice Children’s Book Fair.
Hey fam, I’m excited to be a part of a panel discussion at the legendary @zinnfair in Frisco on Sunday Dec 7th about empowering kids w/Social Justice picture books. I’ll be w/my co-conspirators Laura Atkins and Innosanto Nagara and big shout out to Anne Broyles and Michelle Markel who’ve done the heavy lifting of organizing this.
Howard Zinn Book Fair is a historic Fair where u can get knowledge, exchange ideas, and come away w/Action plans for how we get rid of this fucked up system.
I’m going to be talking about “Alejandria Fights Back” pub by @feministpress written by @mucha_muchacha15 and @risehomestories and why the fight to keep people housed and to find affordable housing connects working class and poor folks of all backgrounds across the US.
Fam, it’s that time of year. The 9th annual Social Justice Children’s Book Fair is upon us. This fair celebrates Bipoc, Queer, Immigrant, and Social Justice minded kid lit creators, literacy organizations, and the Bay kid lit community. We got over 50 creators, panels, performances, story time, and activities!!
Wanna help us get press? Send them the press release. Wanna see some photos from past fairs? Check out these albums of photos taken by Janine Macbeth, Mark Rea, Alejandra Domenzain, and more. Follow us onInstagram. Wanna see some press? Peep this from Ronnie’s List and Oaklandside.
This was a dope event I participated in down in Long Beach, California. I hadn’t been to the museum before and after participating in this I plan to come back! For this “Dia de Muertos” event I set up with 30-40 other local vendors who were selling jewelry, pottery, comics, clothing, candles, and more.
During the pandemic I participated on a panel discussion for MOLAAA with some good friends Cathy Camper and Isabel Quintero alongside moderator Professor Frederick Aldama which was awesome. Watch it here.
I drove down with my family, hit the Lightbox Expo on my second day out there and then hit Molaa on day 3. I brought my whole set up.
I didn’t get a chance to go inside or see all the performances but I caught a glimpse of a the Mariachi Cumbia and one of the alters outside. it was beautiful and somber being that ICE has been terrorizing Black and Brown folks in LA, Chicago, Portland, NYC, here in the Bay and many other places.
This is a short video showing some more photos from the event.
Dig this? Check out this video of me talking to Gabriela Martinez about Furqan’s First Flat Top
Or check out these photos of my set up at SJ Made in San Jose, Ca.
Hey fam, I will be at this years “Fairyland Children’s Book Fair” supporting the Youth Writers Workshop. This past Spring I had the distinct pleasure of working with artist Michaela Ellis to design and plan an awesome series of workshops incorporating team building, games, writing, and drawing exercises, and time to work on their own stories. Some of those stories have been completed and will be published in a journal which you can get that supports young writers. At this years Fest Whitley Gilbert and I will be introducing some of these young creators to you and tabling with them where you can come get your book signed by them 🙂
Ok, come check us out and meet one or two of the 30+ authors who will be there such as Nidhi Chanani, Natasha Triplett, Laura Atkins, Bo Lu, Eugenia Yoh, Malick Sickstein, Charlotte Cheng, Angela Dalton, and more.
Hey fam, I have the pleausre of speaking on a panel for the Story Sunbirds, a new children’s book organization. This is their mission:
At Story Sunbirds, our mission is to cultivate a dynamic and inclusive children’s literature community rooted in justice and anti-racism and anti-colonialism. As a collective of writers, illustrators, and publishing professionals, we prioritize the holistic growth and needs of all children, ensuring their voices and experiences are at the forefront of our creative work.
I will be on a panel called “Finding a Unique Path That’s True to You” which will be about getting into making children’s books by any means necessary, with Intisar Khanani, Navjot Kaur, Zetta Elliott, and moderated by Danielle Davis.
This past June I read at a great cafe called Kinfolx in Oakland for a team of story lovers called “Storyland”started by Indya McGuffin and Bean Tupou. They are a new organization trying to bring stories to families.
It was a great event and my brother Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi(Fist Up Films) came through and blessed us with some photos from the event!! This one above is me sitting behind Indya and Bean.
During and after the readings they had coloring supplies and pasta shells there for making necklaces or bracelettes! Activities are always a hit with kids; especially those who have wiggles and want to move their hands, arms, etc.
Here’s a photo of the amazing set up Marcus Books had at the event! In case you didn’t know, Marcus is the oldest Black owned bookstore in the Bay!
Chapter 510 was also there with books created by young people and information about the incredible work they do as a literary organization that gives kids instruction and space on creative writing.
Here are some fotos from my portion of the reading. Eli really captured the work Bean and Indya put into the event because it was packed with families!
This was super fun and a great way to spend Juneteenth reading stories featuring Black families:) The babies had lots of questions and very cute comments to share as always!
That’s it fam. I’ve linked all the folks involved so please scroll back up to learn more about them.
Dig this? Check out these fotos from my visit to Alvarado elementary in Union City.
I’ll be at this market tomorrow in Alameda. If you’re around come through! I’ve been to Faction Brewing before but this will be my first time working with Alternative Entertainment.Here’s the link for the event!
Yo, this weekend at the Bay Area Book Festival I will be on two panel discussions and representing for the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair who helped to plan the “Family Day” this year. This event has been happening for 10 years! I’ve been a vendor there, a panelist, and attendee. There’s a book market place, a family day curating the best in kid lit, panel discussions, workshops, your favorite authors, and there are a bunch of activities.
Wanna go? check out the organization and the schedule here. Wanna see the panels I’ll be on? Scroll down.
This one is about the themes of activism in stories and the activism happening in real life around stories, book bans, diverse books, history, and more. Here’s more info about this panel.
Here’s the second panel I’ll be on with Zetta Elliott, Matthew Smith, Maya Gonzalez, and Laura Atkins. We’ll be talking about alternative methods to the traditional publishing worlds. More info about this panel here.
Hey fam, this is my video explainer/pitch about the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair, what it does, and why its existence is so important right now. We’re in a $5k fundraising drive to match a $5k grant that was given to us. Since 2017 we’ve brought the funk here in the Bay Area re: Bipoc, Queer, Immigrant, and Social Justice minded kid lit creators. We have been volunteer based until last year and we’re trying to make our work more sustainable.
