Book Finder

Earth Daughter: Alicia of Acoma Pueblo

George Ancona

Age Level:

6-9

Genre:

Nonfiction

In this photographic essay, 12-year-old Matthew Dunn takes a trip to Fort Chipewyan in Alberta, Canada, to learn about his Chipewyan, Metis, and Cree heritage. His visit to relatives coincides with the community’s celebration of Treaty Days, commemorating the 1899 agreement that gave the Chipewyans hunting and fishing rights as well as reservation land. Each year the people gather for games, dances, sports, and feasting. — School Library Journal (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Fort Chipewyan Homecoming: A Journey to Native Canada

Morningstar Mercredi

Illustrator:

Darren McNally

Age Level:

9-12

For almost 20 years, author Sally M. Hunter and her Hochunk family have processed corn in the backyard of their city home. The labor intensive tradition has been a curiosity to her neighbors in St. Paul, so this book, writes Hunter, “will solve the mystery of what those Indian neighbors have been doing in the yard all these years.”It carefully explains the importance of the Winnebago food tradition, adding Hochunk words and related stories. — Oyate (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition

Sally M. Hunter

Illustrator:

Joe Allen

Age Level:

9-12

For two or three weeks each spring, an elder named Gahgoonse (Little Porcupine, or “Porky” for short) holds his sugarbush camp by Lake Independence, Minnesota, where he teaches students from the city the serious business of collecting sap, boiling it down, and making maple syrup, candy, and sugar — and, of course, the giving of thanks for providing this most sacred of trees. — Oyate (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Ininatig’s Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking

Laura Waterman Wittstock

Illustrator:

Dale Kakkak

Age Level:

9-12

In an informal and lively manner, a Lakota grandmother tells about her people, who are part of a larger group frequently referred to as Sioux Indians. The text begins with a brief history of the tribe and then discusses culture and modern life. References to and photographs of various youngsters make the account more personal. — School Library Journal (World’s Children)

Grandchildren of the Lakota

Lavera Rose

Illustrator:

Cheryl Walsh Bellville

Age Level:

9-12

Celinda McKelvey looks like a typical 13-year-old American, and most of the time she lives like one, but her roots are deep in the Navajo nation, and she returns to the reservation to solemnize and celebrate her change from girl to woman. The ceremony, called Kinaaldá, marks the coming-of-age for a Navajo girlRoessel’s text describes Celinda’s preparations and the ceremony itself and relates the ancient myth that gave rise to it. — Booklist (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl Grows Up (We Are Still Here : Native Americans Today)

Monty Roessel

Age Level:

9-12

Focusing on 13-year-old Monte Lyons, a member of the Onondaga Nation and third-generation lacrosse player, this photo-essay presents an interesting blend of Iroquois Confederacy history and information about a sport that is growing in popularity. Toggling back and forth between the past and the present, Hoyt-Goldsmith establishes the tradition of this fast-paced game and gives readers a sense of how it has changed and the role it plays in the lives of Monte and his family. — School Library Journal

Lacrosse: The National Game of the Iroquois

Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

Illustrator:

Lawrence Migdale

Age Level:

9-12

Readers will get to know Christopher, an eleven-year-old Osage boy from northeast Oklahoma. Join Christopher and his family at the annual I’n-lon-shka Dances on the Osage Reservation and meet his grandmother, who works at the Osage tribal museum. Learn the stories of Christopher’s ancestors, those who hunted buffalo and lived in hide-covered lodges — and those who first learned to drive cars and pilot airplanes. (My World: Young Native Americans Today)

Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma

Genevieve Simermeyer

Illustrator:

Katherine Fogden

Age Level:

6-9

Mindy is a Hopi and Tewa girl from the Southwest. Readers will journey with Mindy through her coming-of-age ceremony and will trace the history of the Hopi tribe. John Harrington’s impressive photography brings to life the Arizona landscape and the beautiful katchina dolls carved by Mindy’s father and grandfather. This insightful and instructive book offers a rare glimpse into the contemporary culture of the Hopi tribe, while celebrating Native American life. (My World: Young Native Americans Today)

Meet Mindy: A Native Girl from the Southwest

Susan Secakuku

Illustrator:

John Harrington

Age Level:

9-12

Reviewer Tracy Robert writes, “Photographer and writer Monty Roesseldocumented his ten year old daughter, Jaclyn, as her grandmother taught her to weave. The fifth grader learned about the practical aspects of weaving; like shearing sheep, carding and spinning wool, natural dyes, and weaving techniques. Nali Ruth (Grandmother) also taught Jaclyn about important Navajo stories related to weaving and the significance of each tool.” (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave (We Are Still Here)

Monty Roessel

Age Level:

9-12

Glen Jackson, Jr., is an 11-year-old Ojibwe Indian from the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota. His people are wild rice growers, and the annual harvest has as much spiritual meaning for his people as the raising of corn, beans, and squash does for the Hopi and the Seneca. Glen is taking part in the ritual for the first time and is worried that he won’t be strong enough to push the canoe through the rice beds without tipping over. — School Library Journal (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today)

The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering

Gordon Regguinti

Illustrator:

Dale Kakkak

Age Level:

9-12

This story chronicles one important day seen through the eyes of a young Hopi girl named Sihumana, or “Flower Maiden”, who is a member of the Rabbit Clan and winningly portrayed as a rabbit. After going with her grandfather to greet the sun and bless the day, Sihumana travels with her family to another village to take part in the traditional Butterfly Dance, performed late each summer in order to bring rain to the dry lands of the Southwest. (Tales of the People)

The Butterfly Dance

Gerald Dawavendewa

Age Level:

6-9

Genre:

Fairytales, Folk Tales, and Tall Tales

Product Description: The Pueblo Indian children of northern New Mexico straddle two worlds. They participate in traditional dances and play video games; they paint airplanes and horses, basketball stars and sacred kivas. This book portrays the lives of Tewa Pueblo children through their own drawings, paintings, and words, complemented by their humorous and thoughtful commentary about living in a changing culture.

Where There is No Name for Art: The Art of Tewa Pueblo Children

Bruce Hucko

Age Level:

6-9

John, a young Navajo, is frightened to leave his lifelong home on the reservation and move to Minnesota with his mother and new stepfather. The boy’s grandfather assures him he’ll be all right since he has an “unbreakable code,” the Navajo language. The man goes on to tell the story of how he and other Navajos were recruited by the Marines and developed a message code based on their native language that helped the U.S. in the Pacific during World War II. — School Library Journal

The Unbreakable Code

Sara Hoagland Hunter

Illustrator:

Julia Miner

Age Level:

6-9

In this collection of 150 photographs, Native American children have photographed their daily lives, working with Jim Hubbard and his Shooting Back organization. Shooting Back offers an unrivaled opportunity to see and read about community and family within different tribes: the interiors of homes and playgrounds, and the natural splendor of the environment, as well as the man-made eyesores surrounding and texturing the reservations.

Shooting Back from the Reservation: A Photographic View of Life by Native American Youth

Jim Hubbard

Age Level:

9-12

Van Camp has always been curious about horses. So he sets off on a playful search for “the most beautiful thing about horses,” talking to family, friends, and even artist George Littlechild, who is a Plains Cree and knows something about horses. The answers Van Camp gets range from zany to profound: Horses can run sideways. Horses have secrets. Horses can always find their way home. Littlechild’s bold and fanciful paintings perfectly capture Van Camp’s playful vision of the world.

What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?

Richard Van Camp

Illustrator:

George Littlechild

Age Level:

6-9

“My grandparents’ grandparents walked beside the same stream where I walk with my brother, and we can see what they saw.” Today when a Lenape Indian girl ventures to the stream to fish for shad, she knows that another girl did the same generations before. Told through the cycle of seasons by Traditional Sister and Contemporary Sister, this is a book about tradition and about change. Includes an afterword about the culture and history of the Lenni Lenape (formerly known as the Delaware Indians).

When the Shadbush Blooms

Carla Messinger , Susan Katz

Illustrator:

David Kanietakeron Fadden

Age Level:

6-9

As the cold weather sets in, Joo Tum and his family dismantle their log house, load their bobsled, and prepare to move north to their winter home in the deep woods. Squirrels, birds, and rabbits look on benevolently. When all is ready, the family nestles into a heap of sealskin coats and blankets, and they set off. While the other children sleep, baby Zoo Sap falls off the sled and is left behind. His frantic cries soon alert the animals of the forest, who gather around him in a warm, loving nest of fur and feathers. — School Library Journal

Thanks to the Animals

Allen Sockabasin

Illustrator:

Rebekah Raye

Age Level:

3-6

This picture book published by the Lakota Language Consortium is designed for early elementary and preschool children. It tells the entertaining story of a buffalo in his bull boat traveling down the river and meeting friends. Each different animal joins buffalo and they continue down the river until the surprise ending. Bilingual Lakota/English.

The Buffalo and the Boat / Thathanka na Wata

Kayo Bad Heart Bull

Illustrator:

Frantisek Valer

Age Level:

3-6

Navajo artist Whitethorne has crafted a lovely, thoughtful story of a young boy experiencing his first solar eclipse. Kii Leonard is guided by his wise grandfather, Pipa, who tells him the story of the Na’ach’aahii, the Little Painters who repaint the world at this time, adding new colors and new life to the world. — School Library Journal

Sunpainters: Eclipse of the Navajo Sun

Baje Whitethorne

Age Level:

6-9

Product Description: No matter how hard he tries, nearsighted Walnut just can’t earn his adult name the way other boys do, by hitting a target with a bow and arrow. With his highly developed other senses, however, he shows he can “see what can’t be seen” and earns a new name: Sees Behind Trees. But his special skill proves to be more important than he’d ever imagined when he is invited to go on a journey to a mysterious land, a journey filled with unforeseen challenges and dangers.

Sees Behind Trees

Michael Dorris

Age Level:

9-12

From Maliseet hunters following moose tracks in the snow in January to a Lakota elder’s winter tales during a cold December evening, this lyrical tribute to American tribal nations cuts across the seasons…Bruchac’s prefatory note introduces the traditions and cycles comprising many Native American lives, and an appended section explains each illustration. Also included are a map locating the various tribal nations and a chart listing the name of each month as it is known by each of three American tribal nations. — Booklist

Seasons of the Circle: A Native American Year

Joseph Bruchac

Illustrator:

Robert F. Goetzl

Age Level:

6-9

Genre:

Nonfiction

Product Description: Wily trickster Coyote is having his friends over for a little solstice get-together in the woods when a little girl comes by unexpectedly. She leads the friends through the snowy woods to the mall — a place they had never seen before. The trickster goes crazy with glee as he shops with abandon, only to discover that filling a shopping cart with goodies is not quite the same thing as actually paying for them. A Coyote Solstice Tale blends King’s brilliant deadpan humor and Clement’s evocative watercolors in this witty critique of consumerism and consumption aimed at all ages.

A Coyote Solstice Tale

Thomas King

Illustrator:

Frederic Clement

Age Level:

6-9

Orie’s celebration of Spring is full of imagery reflecting Oneida traditions. Structured as a series of questions, the song/poem explores the sensations, emotions, and spiritual experiences connected with the season: a hawk circling in the sky; the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) sending out their green shoots; the first wild strawberriesAn author’s note explains the significance of the various symbols depicted. — School Library Journal

Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name?: An Oneida Song of Spring

Sandra De Coteau Orie

Illustrator:

Christopher Canyon

Age Level:

6-9

Reading 101

In the Classroom

Helping All Readers

Books & Authors

Literacy at Home

Book Finder

Earth Daughter: Alicia of Acoma Pueblo

Fort Chipewyan Homecoming: A Journey to Native Canada

Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition

Ininatig’s Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking

Grandchildren of the Lakota

Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl Grows Up (We Are Still Here : Native Americans Today)

Lacrosse: The National Game of the Iroquois

Meet Christopher: An Osage Indian Boy from Oklahoma

Meet Mindy: A Native Girl from the Southwest

Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave (We Are Still Here)

The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering

The Butterfly Dance

Where There is No Name for Art: The Art of Tewa Pueblo Children

The Unbreakable Code

Shooting Back from the Reservation: A Photographic View of Life by Native American Youth

What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?

When the Shadbush Blooms

Thanks to the Animals

The Buffalo and the Boat / Thathanka na Wata

Sunpainters: Eclipse of the Navajo Sun

Sees Behind Trees

Seasons of the Circle: A Native American Year

A Coyote Solstice Tale

Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name?: An Oneida Song of Spring

Book Finder

Liked it? Share it!