March 2020, TORONTO -- This board book offersan opportunity for parents, family and caregivers to have a first conversationwith youngsters about the importance of Nibi—the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) wordfor water—and our role to thank, respect, love, and protect it. Babies andtoddlers can follow Nibi as it rains and snows, splashes or rows, drips andsips. An adorable, eclectic cast of characters leads them through interactionswith water in nature and in our everyday activities.

Nibi is Water is part of Second Story Press’s first season releasingfeminist, social justice-themed board books. Written from an Anishinaabe waterprotector’s perspective, the book is in dual language—English andAnishinaabemowin (Ojibwe). With a pronunciation guide at the end for Englishspeakers. Author and illustrator Joanne Robertson won the First NationCommunities READ Indigenous Literature Award for her first book, The WaterWalker, which told the story of the water for older readers. Now theiryounger siblings can start thinking about the importance of protecting Nibitoo.

"Robertson's book is about water and the many ways that a child experiences it. You can swim or bathe in it, you can drink it, you can use it to wash your clothes... But Robertson reminds us that we need to care for it, that we have to respect, love, and protect it because, as the final page tells us, water is life." - Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature