Get ready for more adventure with our friends Amir and Neena! Our friends completed their first task, restoring balance to Root the Brave's realm and releasing his fears. In this second book, they meet another MASSIVE challenge! They meet and must help Sacra, an abundance goddess who has lost her joy and thus her ability to create wind, water, rain and everything green.
Her once lush rainforest home turns into a desert, and the kids now have to help her get her smile back once more while also bringing life back to this now deserted realm!
Whereas the first book dealt with the emotion of fear, this book talks to children about how we approach sadness and the importance of community, but it also teaches children about the incredible Ancient Aztecs as well.
Carefree, Like Me! - Ch. 2: Sacra the Joyous wins the 2019 Best Indie Illustration Award!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: While I am EXCITED to share this book with the world, I also recognize that Native stories are not mine to own. I am a guest into the Mexica/modern Nahua world, learning as much as I possibly can and loving every moment of this learning. There are, however, a wealth of resources to learn more about indigenous cultures of the Americas - written by those same Native voices. I want to take a moment to share these voices in order to amplify and uplift their stories. You can check out a great list of these picture books written by Native American authors below!
1.) Pragmatic Mom- #OwnVoice Best Native American Children's Books
2.) Dr. Debbie Reese's Selection of Great Native American Children's Books
Carefree, Like Me! - Ch. 2
Book Launch Party!
On May 11, 2019, I with the help of incredible family and friends I ran my first book launch party. It was a huge success! There was food. There was music. There was art. There were raffles and prizes! But most importantly, there was community and love. We were also extremely fortunate to have Kalpulli Huehuetlahtolli come and share a sacred prayer with us that energized and educated the entire space.
I really wish folks who weren't there could have been. The energy in the place was just love and more love. It was incredible. This was truly a celebration of indigenous Mexica (Aztec) culture as well as being a celebration of the launch of Carefree, Like Me! - Ch. 2: Sacra the Joyous! It was not only a beautiful reminder of our collective humanity but also a celebration of the contributions of the Native people of Mexico and the Americas at large.
Special thank you once again to: Veronica Olivares-Weber for securing the space and being an incredible friend and cheerleader/supporter, Jennifer Cohan and family for being the best fairy god-muva a guy could ask for, my mothers Brenda Davis, Angela Young-Conyers and Ron Conyers for lifting me up when I was about to have a mental breakdown LOL, my oldest and truest friends Nina Narang, Talia Tuck , and Jumaane Giles, Gabriella Dominique Grinwald-Alves and Elizabeth R. Mealey for capturing this day, and of course my soul brother Edward and his amazing wife Quetziquetl , T'Karima and the entire Kalpulli Huehuetlahtolli group. Thank you for sharing something so sacred and beautiful.
DISCLAIMER: Photos taken and produced by Elizabeth Mealey. You can follow her on Instagram at: @elizabethmealey and on her website at: https://www.elizabethmealey.com/ as well.
Video provided by Gabriella Grinwald Alves. You can follow her work on Instagram at: Vignette Collective
To learn more about and connect with Kalpulli Huehuetlahtolli, please visit: http://huehuetlahtolli.org/
