Prisons Must Fall
Published on 23. July 2025
Book
Hardback
32 pages
979-8-88890-441-1 (ISBN)
Description
From Mariame Kaba, New York Times-bestselling author of We Do This 'Til We Free Us, and social worker Jane Ball comes a powerful book showing the harm that prisons cause and exploring alternatives, gorgeously illustrated by Olly Costello.
Prisons, they do no good.
They do not help.
They do not teach.
On a moonlit road, tucked away from prying eyes, a child sees a prison complex-cinder blocks, watch towers, barbed wire. Page by page, we come to see the prison as a child sees it.
Prisons hurt people and leave them lonely, without loved ones to comfort them or lend a listening ear.
As dandelion stars float up in the air, this dreamscape becomes a hope-scape, where love transcends the prison walls. All the families and friends of the people in the prison march and protest in beautiful song, march together to a new way and a new dawn-in this case a cooperative housing and community center, next to a neighborhood greenhouse for restoration and healing. A new world, where connection and repair are fundamental, and even tangible, as people around a table quilt messages, "I hear you. I'm sorry for what I did. How can I make it better?"
In Prisons Must Fall, Mariame Kaba, a longtime activist, together with co-author Jane Ball, present solutions that do not involve incarceration, such as meeting people's basic needs, restorative justice, and community support-seeds for a safe world. Illustrator Olly Costello provides textured images of a global majority community and a grey, monotone backdrop that is overtaken by joyful colors. A gentle but effective addition to all social justice bookshelves and libraries. Discussion questions included.
Perfect for:
Parents, teachers, and librarians looking for books on the prison industrial complex and prison reform
Kids who are interested in fairness and social justice
Readers who love exceptional and sophisticated illustration
Prisons, they do no good.
They do not help.
They do not teach.
On a moonlit road, tucked away from prying eyes, a child sees a prison complex-cinder blocks, watch towers, barbed wire. Page by page, we come to see the prison as a child sees it.
Prisons hurt people and leave them lonely, without loved ones to comfort them or lend a listening ear.
As dandelion stars float up in the air, this dreamscape becomes a hope-scape, where love transcends the prison walls. All the families and friends of the people in the prison march and protest in beautiful song, march together to a new way and a new dawn-in this case a cooperative housing and community center, next to a neighborhood greenhouse for restoration and healing. A new world, where connection and repair are fundamental, and even tangible, as people around a table quilt messages, "I hear you. I'm sorry for what I did. How can I make it better?"
In Prisons Must Fall, Mariame Kaba, a longtime activist, together with co-author Jane Ball, present solutions that do not involve incarceration, such as meeting people's basic needs, restorative justice, and community support-seeds for a safe world. Illustrator Olly Costello provides textured images of a global majority community and a grey, monotone backdrop that is overtaken by joyful colors. A gentle but effective addition to all social justice bookshelves and libraries. Discussion questions included.
Perfect for:
Parents, teachers, and librarians looking for books on the prison industrial complex and prison reform
Kids who are interested in fairness and social justice
Readers who love exceptional and sophisticated illustration
Reviews / Votes
"Though emotionally demanding, the book's bright color choices, images of community members of all abilities and backgrounds working together, and thoughtful word choice all craft a palatable and poignant message."-Booklist, starred review
"As an organizer and author, Mariame Kaba gets that kids both can handle and deserve straight talk about the moral scandal that is our system of mass incarceration, and that indeed they may be clearer about the necessity of abolition than most of us adults. This beautiful book, grounded in hope and collective action, is going to be a wonderful tool for parents and educators who want to help children understand how to change the world-and why it needs changing so urgently."
-John Duda, Red Emma's worker-owner and co-founder
"How can one heal without the presence of love? Kaba and Costello help us re-imagine a world of true rehabilitation and community care, one without indignation or limitations. This stunning ode to abolition is a beacon of light in stifling times and reminds us there is potential for a brighter future."
-Beth Wilson, co-owner of Wild Rumpus Books
"A picture book told in rhyme that educates young readers about the concept of prison abolition. The book starts off with teaching readers about the harm caused by mass incarceration ("In a cell you are alone,/without family, without friends./No one to talk to,/no one to listen."), and continues with lessons on how communities can create support and solutions to help folks who may be vulnerable to incarceration. The language is simple and accessible, and the rhyming stanzas are easy for young readers to follow. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and provide a lot of diversity in the characters who are being shown."
-Dina Delic, Youth Services Book Review
Praise for See You Soon:
"Mariame Kaba is always front and center in the fight for abolition. This beautiful story is a song of redemption and a study of the forever tremor that is mass incarceration. See You Soon is a shining example of how hope can tend to our deepest wounds."
-Mahogany L. Browne, author of I Remember Death By Its Proximity to What I Love
"Beautifully framed illustrations in bright colors illustrate six-year-old Queenie's (Reyna) life with her mother and grandmother... This slight title is much needed for children who are separated from a parent who is in jail."
-Youth Services Book Review
"This sensitive, affecting examination serves as a worthy conversation starter."
-Publishers Weekly
Praise for Missing Daddy:
"In this sensitive and candid story, a child narrator explores the emotions she feels surrounding her father's incarceration. Royal's art has a spare, warm quality, with loose ink outlines and splashes of light pastel and citrus tones in the characters' clothing and surroundings. Educator Kaba addresses the experiences related to parental incarceration head-on while emphasizing that there are a lot of different ways to be a family."
-Publishers Weekly
"Charming and heart-wrenching details in the flights of fireflies, bordered pictures in a photo album, and even the expression of the little girl when a classmate whispers, 'You know your daddy's a criminal so that makes you one,' highlight the angst and resilience of the little girl. This straightforward consideration of children affected by the imprisonment of family members is necessary."
-KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Missing Daddy is a crucial book for our times. Using storytelling and gorgeous artwork, this book brings heart, soul, and deep compassion to the challenges facing kids with incarcerated parents. A much needed piece of children's literature."
- Daniel Jose Older, author of Shadowshaper Cypher and Dactyl Hill Squad
"This book is a crucial tool for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about the well-being of children who, through no fault of their own, are forced to bear the consequences of our country's obsession with incarceration. For children who desperately miss their parents, feel confused, or are teased at school, this book can go a long way in letting them know that they are not alone and in normalizing their experiences."
-Eve L. Ewing
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Target group
Children/juvenile
US School Grade: From First Grade to Third Grade, Reading Age: From 6 to 8 years, Interest Age: From 4 to 8 years
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
Color illustrations throughout
Dimensions
Height: 257 mm
Width: 253 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
430 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-88890-441-1 (9798888904411)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Mariame Kaba is an organizer, educator, librarian, and prison industrial complex (PIC) abolitionist who is active in movements for racial, gender, and transformative justice. Kaba is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots abolitionist organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. Mariame co-leads the initiative Interrupting Criminalization, a project she co-founded with Andrea Ritchie in 2018.
Olly Costello is a white queer illustrator, PIC abolitionist, food growing enthusiast and community seed saver, who is committed to participating in the creative, collective work of building a liberated and flourishing future for all of us. Through their artistic and community based practices they explore themes of interconnectedness, spiritual ecology, emergence, accountability, community building, Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, Transformative Justice and belonging.
Jane Ball is a social worker, artist, parent, children's yoga instructor, and creative collaborator. She spent the early years of her career assisting survivors of domestic violence and their children, in navigating systems that did not serve them. She has worked in multiple communities to organize youth, engage in creative resistance, counsel folks in crisis, and advocate for children with disabilities. Jane regularly uses art and movement as mediums to engage in self-reflection and explore challenging questions, with young people. This work has inspired her to explore a multitude of possibilities, what-ifs, opportunities, and alternatives to the many inequitable and destructive systems folks will encounter during their lifetime. She remains hopeful.
Olly Costello is a white queer illustrator, PIC abolitionist, food growing enthusiast and community seed saver, who is committed to participating in the creative, collective work of building a liberated and flourishing future for all of us. Through their artistic and community based practices they explore themes of interconnectedness, spiritual ecology, emergence, accountability, community building, Prison Industrial Complex Abolition, Transformative Justice and belonging.
Jane Ball is a social worker, artist, parent, children's yoga instructor, and creative collaborator. She spent the early years of her career assisting survivors of domestic violence and their children, in navigating systems that did not serve them. She has worked in multiple communities to organize youth, engage in creative resistance, counsel folks in crisis, and advocate for children with disabilities. Jane regularly uses art and movement as mediums to engage in self-reflection and explore challenging questions, with young people. This work has inspired her to explore a multitude of possibilities, what-ifs, opportunities, and alternatives to the many inequitable and destructive systems folks will encounter during their lifetime. She remains hopeful.