I AM Books, the bookstore in Boston's North End with an Italian accent, is publishing its first book: Don't Worry!, by store founder Nicola Orichuia, illustrated by Carla Dipasquale, a bookseller at I AM Books. Don't Worry! is "a story of community, friendship and family," and is set in the North End, where a girl named Nina sets off on an urban adventure to collect ingredients for a surprise birthday cake. She takes along her pet turtle Connie, but not everything goes as planned. With the help from the community around her, Nina ends up with an unexpected surprise.
To cover production costs, I AM Books has launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $15,000 that as of this morning has raised $4,000; it features rewards such as a limited edition stuffed animal, tote bags, and stickers. The book will be a hardcover, distributed by Ingram, I AM Books, and Tartuca Books, the store's imprint for the book.
Orichuia said, "We see this book as a first building block. From this book and its characters, we want to start a publishing company that can find its own voice and space in the illustrated children's book market. We chose the 'tartuca' (turtle in Sicilian dialect) as our symbol, because we want to return to a slower, artisanal way of making things. In general, we see 'slowness' as a virtue, a quality that often is looked down upon these days. But you need time and a 'slow' mindset to read a book, especially if you're reading a book to children."