Skip to main content

Display: Native American Voices

 
Written by Carole Lindstrom
Illustrated by Michaela Goade
New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2020. Picture Book.

"Water is the first medicine. It affects and connects us all....When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people's water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth's most sacred resource. Inspired by the many indigenous-led movements across North America, this bold and lyrical picture book issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth's water from harm and corruption."--Editor


Written by Deirdre Havrelock
Illustrated by Aly McKnight
New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2024. Picture Book.

A young indigenous girl's family helps calm her nervous butterflies before her first Jingle Dress Dance and reminds her why she dances. --Editor

Written by Laurel Goodluck
Illustrated by Jonathan Nelson
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2022. Picture Book.

Amanda and Kara are cousins and best friends in an intertribal Native American family; but Kara's family leaves the city and moves back to the Rez, making both girls sad--but the summer reunion reminds them that they will always be cousins. --Editor

By Kim Rogers
New York: Heartdrum, 2024. Biography.

A biographical picture book about Clarence Tinker, a member of the Osage Nation, who endured abuse growing up at the hands of a boarding school and went on to serve in the United States Air Force in World War II. --Publisher

Written by Traci Sorell
Illustrated by Arigon Starr
New York: Kokila, 2023. Informational.

The true story of John Meyers and Charles Bender, who in 1911 became the first two Native American pro baseball players to face off in a World Series, teaches important lessons about resilience, doing what you love in the face of injustice, and the fight for Native American representation in sports. --Publisher

Written by Sage Speidel
Illustrated by Leah Dorion
Toronto: Red Deer Press, 2023. Picture Book.

A mother shares Lakota cultural experiences with her daughter, introducing her to waci (dance) as a way to celebrate life. Wacipi (powwow), where dancing occurs, is a setting for Indigenous song, dance, regalia, food and crafts. A warm, family story for all ages, Waci! Dance! visually embraces the joy of being together and caring for each other. -- Publisher

Written by Deirdre Havrelock
Illustrated by Aphelandra
New York; Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2024. Biography.

Whenever young Carol sang along to her family's music, her heart felt light and full of joy. Learning from her grandfather, Moshum, Carol listened closely to the drums' hearbeat until one day, Moshum made her a drum of her very own. As Carol grew up, she passed down her songs to her children, grandchildren, and many women in her community, just as Moshum taught her-even as women and children became increasingly excluded from sitting at the drum. Despite those who disapproved, she formed her own drumming group called Chubby Cree. Today, Carol and her group share their music. The Heartbeat Drum is a radiant celebration of preserving Indigenous traditions, finding your voice and speaking out. --Publisher


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

Stand Tall By Siena Siegel by Joan Bauer Putnam, 2002, 182 pgs Realistic Fiction Tree is 12 years old and over 6 feet tall. That would be great if he were a basketball player, but he is not. Dealing with his unusual size is not Tree's only challenge. Tree's parents have recently gone through a divorce, and his grandfather has had his leg amputated as the result of an old Vietnam War injury. The strength of this book is the characterizations. All of the main characters are dimensional and sympathetic. Bauer sets the characters in real and often funny family situations. Best of all is the character of Tree. He is boy with a heart to match his stature. This is a great book for boys or girls ages 9-12, as a read aloud or for individual reading. This book could also be a good Rx book for children whose families are going through divorce, or for anyone who feels like they don't fit in.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker

  Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker By Heidi Heilig New York: Greenwillow Books, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages. Thanks to Cincinnati Lee's no good, dirty rotten, artifact stealing great great great grandfather, Cincinnati's family is now cursed and Cincinnati feels like it's up to her to break the curse. Which involves trying to steal the artifacts back from museums that her grandfather robbed from graves and archeological sites around the world and return them to their countries of origin. But when Cincinnati's first artifact stealing mission goes awry, she decides it might be more effective to steal an all-powerful artifact herself that she can use to break the curse - The Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately her race for the spear will pit her against art smugglers and thieves intent on finding the ancient artifact themselves. If you are looking for an Indiana Jones read-alike, this is the perfect for you! Heavy on the adventure with similar levels of mysticism to those seen in th...