• A Black Woman Did That is one of the top 10 bestselling books for 2020 on African American Literature Book Club (AALBC.com), and on Publisher Weekly’s An Anti-Racist Graphic Novel Reading List. From The Washington Informer: “The women spotlighted include some well-known history-makers such as Harriet Tubman, Bessie Coleman, Shirley Chisholm and Ida B. Wells. Stacey Abrams, Whoopi Goldberg, Simone Biles, and Serena Williams are a few of the contemporary ‘sheroes’ readers can rediscover through new insights.” Download a reader’s guide here, created by the book’s author, Malaika Adero.

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Puberty—and Shouldn’t be Googling: For Curious Boys! is full of frank confessions, abundant humor, nonjudgmental advice—plus cool, graphic-novel-style  illustrations throughout. “Talks about toxic masculinity, feminism and being gay among a lot of other great topics—really diverse images also,” tweets @BlackDigitalHum. “Answered ALL the questions my son had,” (4-star Amazon review).

• “One of the most engaging elements of the book is the repeated refrain of “No!” throughout the text. I’ve yet to meet a toddler (including my own, who loved the book) who didn’t enjoy screaming “No!” whenever possible, and it is welcome and encouraged throughout. This participatory element is very helpful in engaging young readers to learn about important activists and movements throughout history, while inspiring future protesters in the making.” — Smells Like Infinite Sadness about new board book, No! My First Book of Protest. This timely board book has landed on many race and equity books for kids lists; check out these on Stroller in the City, Lucie's List, and Smithsonian Magazine.

• The Taunton Daily Gazette calls our latest Generation Girl book, Girl Activist, a “helpful guide to get young activists feeling empowered to change their communities and the world.” It’s featured on Imagination Soup's good biographies list, School Library Journal's New Books Alert, and Today's "Awesome Girls" gift guide. lifehacker says “books like Girl Activist are a good start.” Learn how to ignite a movement with the help of this book of 40 mini-biographies!

• Support independent bookstores and publishers when you buy our books from the Downtown Bookworks shop on bookshop.org! This new book-buying website is simple, timely, and offers discounts on most titles. As of now, the bulk of our books are available in our bookshop.org shop—we’ll be updating it often.

 

• Four of our books are recipients of the 2020 Parents’ Choice Awards: No! My First Book of Protest, PBS KIDS Sticker Smart Art: Around the World, PBS KIDS Sticker Smart Art: Colors and Shapes, and PBS KIDS Spot the Differences: Around the World.

• “If you are looking for a badass gift idea to give the young feminist activist in your life this season, then Downtown Bookworks have got you covered,” says Girl Talk HQ of our inspiring Feminist Flashcards (40 cards plus a booklet!). NEWSFLASH: two of our icons, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem, sent us thank you emails for sending them each a Feminist Flashcards set ( they are both featured in the deck)!! The Good Men Project and Red Tricycle also dig the cards and accompanying booklet.

• “Get your little crimefighters this book, and they can pull back the flaps and find out the secret identities of their favorite super friends.” advises Batman News about our newest DC Super Heroes board book. DC Super Heroes Who's Who? is also featured on City Book Review's gift guide.

• “Book after book, [Downtown Bookworks] have managed to bring the fantastic worlds we nerds enjoy into formats that our children can digest” — from Batman News about our quirky A to Z board book, Baby Geek. “I never thought anyone could make the King of the Monsters adorable, but Briggs does just that with Godzilla,” says Women Write About Comics of Baby Geek’s illustrator.

• “Who better to help young explorers become Nature Detectives than PBS Kids?” Our latest PBS KIDS Look and Learn kit, Nature Detective, just won a Parents' Choice Award. From The Albert Lea Tribune, “it's important that kids, grownups and supposed grownups get outside and do something wild—like looking at a bird.” American Scientist put it at the top of their Science Book Gift Guide.

• “From encouraging girls to use their voice and normalizing the idea of girls as leaders to showing them that beauty is on the inside, the book [My First Book of Feminism] aims to teach big lessons with a kid-friendly approach,” says Girl Talk HQ in their article featuring author Julie Merberg and illustrator Michéle Brummer Everett. Also featured in NBC News Holiday gift guide: 10 awesome books to inspire girls to know their value.

• “[It’s a Mitzvah!] showcases a vast quantity of ways of performing mitzvahs: reading and learning, giving donations, playing fairly and treating people with kindness,” says Book Riot in their roundup of the best Rosh Hashanah books for children. Read Jewish Boston's Q&A with author Julie Merberg and illustrator Beck Feiner for more about this wise, fun, and brand-new board book.

• “What wonderful timing for Downtown Bookworks to release a book that provides support and character building in trying times... This makes for a wonderful moment to have dialogue between parent and child that goes beyond the printed page. My 4-year-old daughter responded strongly throughout the book, injecting her own feelings throughout,” says Smells Like Infinite Sadness about our newest DC board book, DC Super Heroes Have Feelings Too!

• “[Baby’s First Eames] is a no-brainer for those who want their children brought up on Frank Lloyd Wright rather than Thomas the Tank,” says Plain Magazine. Baby’s First Eames has fans here in the U.S. and abroad—see House Beautiful (U.K.)’s review, dwell’s list for rockstar new parents, author Julie Merberg's Q&A on apartment therapy, Young Architect’s “15 Architect Books for Babies” list, and Architect Magazine's “Essential Reading.” This hip A-to-Z board book is also featured in Vogue (Germany) and on Curbed and the Dallas Morning News.

• DC Super Heroes: My First Book of Girl Power is a hit — #6 on Publishers Weekly’s best-selling children’s books list and a perennial best-seller on Amazon.com (371 reviews and counting!) “We’re calling it ‘the only book she’ll ever need,’” says The Bump. Super fans include: Forbes, The Everymom, Uproxx, Bleeding Cool, Montreal Families, Cool Mom Picks, No Time for Flashcards, The Huffington Post Canada, and SheKnows.

• “One of my favorite things about this book is that the stories are formatted in a way that helps kiddos get comfortable with the look and feel of traditional comic book panels,” says Nerdophiles of our latest DC Big Book: The Big Book of Super Hero Bedtime Stories. Also digging it are Batman News, Red Tricycle, and New Jersey Family.

• “Get a jump on teaching equality with this charming rhyming book, which reminds kids of simple truths,” says Good Housekeeping of My First Book of Feminism (for Boys). From The New York Times: “This board book challenges stereotypes early with rhymes and drawings that address grown-up issues like equal pay, consent and domestic labor with toddler-level directness.” Check out more accolades from: Brit + Co (also on Yahoo), The Inventory, The Children's Book Review,  PyschCentral, Red Tricycle, Kveller, Baby Chick, Girl Talk HQ, Hello Wonderful, No Time for Flashcards, New Jersey Family, and School Library Journal.

• “The Magic of Unicorns is a great way to supplement your child’s love of mythical unicorns with actual historical legends” says Columbus Parent. BookRiot has it on their “50 Must-read Fantasy Books for Kids” list, while miniature masterminds says “we have been reading this book for about two weeks now every night.” Also beloved by The Fairytale Traveler and Newsday.

• From USA Today: “This brilliant little book [PBS KIDS Turn the Key: Around the World] packs a lot of learning into 12 pages.... Encouraging curiosity and a cross-cultural perspective, this super-sturdy book provides a whirlwind tour of interesting people and places around the globe and simultaneously helps children understand that people are far more similar than different.” This book-with-key has won a Family Choice Award, a Tillywig Brain Child Award, as well as a National Parenting Product Award. Turn the key and see for yourself!

• My First Jewish Baby Book is fast becoming a must-have for any Jewish baby's nursery. “Prepare to read My First Jewish Baby Book over and over,” says The New York Jewish Week. Many others agree including: The Children's Book Review, The Jewish Journal, San Diego Jewish World, Book Riot, Mother, Imagination Soup, Salty Canary, Cool Mom Picks, and Deseret News.

• “There’s no better way to teach a kid manners than with comic art and heroes, so pick this up for your kids or someone else’s,” says Batman News of our DC Super Heroes Say Please. More love for this helpful board book on Under the Radar and Imagination Soup.

• “Use [Girl CEO] to inspire an enterprising young person. Use it to study leadership. Use it to study women-owned or women-run businesses. Use it to launch an entrepreneur study. There are so many possibilities!” (from Imagination Soup). Read what other fans have to say here: Herald News, Hello Wonderful, School Library Journal, Brit + Co, Adafruit Industries, and BookRiot.

 

• “DC Super Hero Science gets everything right,” says Batman News. And, from AiPT!: “This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to learn basic science, and will make a fantastic addition to anyone’s library.” DC Super Hero Science is a clever, clear, action-packed exploration of popular science topics experienced through the lens of DC’s beloved super heroes. Plus, it comes with experiments!

General Downtown Bookworks press

• “Superhero publishers could learn a lot from Downtown Bookworks.” — comicsalliance.com

• GirlTalkHQ.com on our DC Girl Power books: “Downtown Bookworks in New York are doing their part to celebrate [Wonder Woman’s] 75th anniversary and keep the conversation going about girl power in the younger generation.”

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Check out our latest 2021 catalog! You'll see all our upcoming titles and  hits from our backlist. We invite you to browse it here!

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Because there are so many things that can seem scary to a kid—and just as many ways to show everyday courage—bestselling author Jason Kander and his son True have written Courage Is. . . A powerful board book illustrated by Alyssa M. Gonzalez and coming this summer!

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How to Think Like Frank Lloyd Wright includes practical exercises that invite the reader to create original patterns, designs, drawings, structures, and more—inspired and based on Wright's love of nature. Coming this summer.