A is for Activist ~ by Innosanto Nagara, 2013, children's, 9/10
Playful images and tongue-twisting rhymes show a world of justice and equal rights. A is for Activist is a rhyming, alliterative, word-rich wonder, introducing concepts of justice, respect, activism, diversity, LGBT rights, workers' and environmental rights and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. It's full of hope for the future, and calls children and parents to action.
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| Click on the illustrations to enlarge them |
There's a cat on each page, like on the cover above, and even adults can have fun looking for the cat. It's more obvious in the earlier pages, and a bit more difficult in some of the later pages. My favorite "hidden" cat page was the one with the eyes, probably because I was convinced during several readings of the book that no cat was on this page. Do you see it? No, not the black cat in the top left of the "J" page with the Jay (blue jay) at the top right. If you don't find it, I'll leave a clue in the comments on this post. Can someone help me out and tell me what that prominent hand is holding on the red "J" page above?
Oh, by the way, do you see the iguana on the "I" page? I didn't see it at first. Many pages have unmentioned animals and things that start with that letter. Nothing is lost if you fail to notice them, but it's such fun to think, "Oh! There's a feather on the "F" page and a grasshopper on the "G" page, a horse in the distance and people using hoes in the background of the "H" page, a mouse on the "M" page far from the black cat in the crowd of people. Only once are TWO cats shown together; they're on the "L" page, and I decided they represent Love.
My friend Donna pointed out this "N" page, where the cat's sign is partially hidden. She thinks it probably says, "NO DOGS." I see "No Justice No Peace" and "No War," but my favorite "NO" sign isn't in the book: NO H8. I've put the photo of the "Pea-Pea-Peace March" and the "Question coercion" pages on my list of
books I've read in 2017. Click on
the link and scroll down to #73.
7 comments:
Clue: Click to enlarge the picture, then look at the whites of all the eyes. Sixteen have whites, with round irises. One doesn't. Instead, one is yellow with an elongated iris. Look closely at the eyes of a cat, and you'll see their eyes don't widen the way ours do. The small letter "I" in the bottom corner, almost lost in the fold, could be another clue; its dot is perfectly round like the iris in a human eye. And just for the record, the iguana is down near the bottom right, drab green against the dark background.
The hand is holding a broom, a tool used by janitors.
I wanted to ask, "But Donna, the straw is too short, that is not how anyone holds a broom, and why would a BROOM be on the 'J' page?" And then I realized that you said the magic "J" word: JANITOR. Okay, thank you, Aunty Donna! This is, indeed, a book to puzzle even the grown-ups who read it to the children.
This looks like a beautifully done book. I love the illustrations and the hidden animals!
What is the meaning behind the cats?
I almost didn't publish your comment at all, "Unknown," since (1) I don't know who you are and (2) I'm not quite sure what "meaning" you are looking for. I have no idea why the author of this children's book chose to put cats all over this book for children. Get a copy and see for yourself. Your question (on something I posted years ago) seems like you are asking me, the reader, why Humpty Dumpty was sitting on a wall in the first place.
Where is the cat on T?
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