Courtney Ahn, author of A Little Book About Activism, talks about how you can use your voice and work to make your community better through activism.
Courtney Ahn, author and illustrator of A Little Book About Activism, talks about how you can use your voice and work to make your community better through activism.
A Little Book About Activism (view book)
Full Book Description:
A little book with a big goal! This book aims to give kids the building blocks to develop strong principles of care, empathy, and community. Because you’re never too young to make a difference!
About the Author:
Courtney (Courn) Ahn is a Korean American illustrator and designer known for her playful artwork that depicts social justice, antiracism, and all things activism!
*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
S1 E026, Courtney Talks About Activism
[INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is activism?
Courtney: Um, to me, Activism is a lot like problem solving in our communities. Identifying when something isn't right, intentionally or unintentionally and taking the necessary steps to fix it for everyone's benefit. I think it's helpful to think of activism like a verb instead of a noun. It requires action. And the way we think about it is always growing and change.
[MEET OUR GUEST]
Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I’m Matthew. I’m a teacher, a librarian, and I’m your host.
Today we’re continuing our special series of episodes with the authors and illustrators of our A Little Book About series. We know that many of you listening have younger brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, neighborhood friends and new-to-the-neighborhood faces. And while this series is intended for kids ages 0-4, we know that many, many of you are the ones who read to those young learners.
The topics we cover in the series are universal, which means they are things that anyone, no matter the age, can connect to. Things like sharing and curiosity and bravery.
Today, as we talk about the big things going on in your world, we’re doing so with an author illustrator from our A Little Book About series.
Courtney: Hi, my name is Courtney Ahn, but everybody calls me Courn. I'm a Korean American designer and illustrator in Portland, Oregon, and I am also the author of A Little Book About Activism.
[TOPIC EXPLORATION]
Matthew: I'm so glad to be talking to you on the podcast. I'm so glad that our listeners get to hear you. And I also get to share some love for A Little Book About Activism. It's a gorgeous book. It's so beautifully written. I'm so grateful that you're here. Why don't we get into speaking of pictures, but also actions. Courn, what can activism look like?
Courtney: Activism can look like so many things. It can look like starting a petition in your school for gender neutral clothing policies. It can look like joining a program to clean up trash in your community. It can look like getting involved in marches and rallies in your city.
The shared thing is just that activism requires a desire for change and to make your community a better place.
Matthew: Can anybody be an activist?
Courtney: Absolutely. If you have a voice and a means of expressing it, however that may be, you can fight for anyone and anything through activism.
Matthew: I love that. Are, are you an activist, Courn?
Do you consider yourself an activist?
Courtney: I like to think that I am.
Matthew: Yeah, me as well. And I love seeing, I love identifying those children that care about the thing that they care about and want to take that next step into action too. I think. I say it a lot around here, but you know, when we work with children, we're looking into our future.
And so kids, when we talk about you, we look for those ways that you can change this world. What are some of the most important causes, Courn, that you fight for?
Courtney: Growing up in a community without a lot of kids that looked like me, I was often bullied for just being Asian. So of course anti-racism and racial equality has always been the most personal to me. But the great thing is that a need for equality connects so many other causes near to me, environmental activism, gender equality, LGBTQIA+ equality, worker rights, workers' rights, and much more.
Matthew: We've talked about gender and identity on this podcast before. And we've also talked about anti-Asian hate and I think any one of those things that we identify with those things that make us feel like us when those come under attack, um, that is an awful, awful thing. And I think it's also a space where we can step in and be that support for one another.
So I'm grateful for you for sharing those with us. And I'm also a fan of your causes. So, uh, I would love to hear a little bit about what it was like for you to create a book for our youngest readers.
Courtney: It was absolutely such an odd create something that I really would have loved to read when I was younger. Like, it was definitely a challenge because I don't typically make a lot of stuff for kids, but it was also so much fun figuring that out, like from writing to storyboarding and illustrating, like I had such a blast working with the team to create something that I'm really proud.
Matthew: Oh, that's so cool. I love the art in your book, as I shared. And also your message. I love that you also are giving those words to the person, reading the book to help communicate to, uh, the other person enjoying the book, the reader, whatever their age is. Uh, do you have a favorite spread from the book? I have a favorite spread that I'm going to share with you, but do you have a favorite spread?
Courtney: Yeah, I would have to say probably the last spread. It's the one with the large shoe and like everyone in arms kind of marching off the page. Like it really just felt like me. That was kind of the whole idea of the book summarize like this idea of community and unity.
Matthew: Yes. I, you know, The the way to, to, to pair with you the way you talk about the end of the book.
I also love the care that you'll, that you show right at the beginning of the book, where you say I'm going to cheat and say two spreads, but sometimes the word world feels perfect. Like it's smiling right at you. And then with the turn of the page, but sometimes it doesn't feel like that at all. I love in this art for those listening that on your first spread, you have a closeup of the earth smiling back at us personified and there's wonderful, welcoming way.
But on that page, turn, we zoom way, way, way out from the earth. Who's who's crying. There's a deer running down Earth's face, and it's just sort of the bleakness of space. If you will space spaces. One of those funny things that can make us feel alone, but can also feel wonderful, but the way you use it in this spread, really feels like there's no one else there for this character.
And I think that, um, being able to offer that imagery for our readers to set the table, if you will, for the conversation that's going to happen in this book, uh, is, is really such a great inviting way to start off.
Courtney: And thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
Matthew: I am so appreciative that you. We're on this path and continue to be on this path that you are calling the brought you to making this book that brought you to sharing this story with readers.
Uh, I'm so grateful for that. I'm grateful that we got a chance to talk today before we leave. I'd love to ask you if there's a message about activism that you'd like to share with our listeners?
Courtney: Yes, just one small thing. I'd just love to share that you are never too young, small, or unimportant to have a voice and make a difference in your community.
All it is ever taken is a single voice to start a movement. So why not you?
[FULL READ THROUGH]
Matthew: And now, read to you in its entirety, here is A Little Book About Activism by Courtney Ahn.
Courtney: A Little Book About Activism by Courtney Ahn.
Sometimes the world feels perfect, like it's smiling right at you. But sometimes it doesn't feel like that at all.
Sometimes the world can be really unfair... to certain people and communities. To me, and maybe even you too. But it doesn't have to stay that way.
I believe that one person can make a difference. How? Activism.
Activism is caring so much about something that you want to change it for the better.
How does it work?
It starts with seeing the world around you, noticing when it's unfair... and then using your voice to speak up when something isn't right. And backing up those words with actions too.
It's about working with everyone in your community and working for everyone in your community. Because one step at a time, activism can make the world a better place for all of us.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Courtney Ahn, author and illustrator of A Little Book About Activism, for joining us today. You can learn more about this book and others like it by visiting akidsco.com.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner, with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found, and if you liked this episode, consider sharing it with a friend, teacher, or grownup.
Join us next week for a conversation about Sharing with Duke Stebbins, author and illustrator of A Little Book About Sharing.