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 reformKids who are interested in fairness and social justiceReaders who love exceptional and sophisticated illustration

Author: Mariame Kaba

Personal & social issues: body & health (Children's/YA)

Published on 23 July 2025 by Haymarket Books in the United States.

Hardback | 32 pages, colour illustrations throughout
260 x 262 x 9 | 424g