March 2020, TORONTO -- This board book offers an opportunity for parents, family and caregivers to have a first conversation with youngsters about the importance of Nibi--the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe) word for water--and our role to thank, respect, love, and protect it. Babies and toddlers can follow Nibi as it rains and snows, splashes or rows, drips and sips. An adorable, eclectic cast of characters leads them through interactions with water in nature and in our everyday activities. Nibi is Water is part of Second Story Press's first season releasing feminist, social justice-themed board books. Written from an Anishinaabe water protector's perspective, the book is in dual language--English and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe). With a pronunciation guide at the end for English speakers. Author and illustrator Joanne Robertson won the First Nation Communities READ Indigenous Literature Award for her first book, The Water Walker , which told the story of the water for older readers. Now their younger siblings can start thinking about the importance of protecting Nibi too.

"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.