A cat befriends a monk and brings good fortune to his rundown temple in this handsomely illustrated retelling narrated by Tama, the feline hero.
I Am Tama, Lucky Cat: A Japanese Legend
The narrator describes her family’s immigration from Cuba to New York City based on her own family’s story and illustrated by her husband for a striking memoir.
Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York!
An orphaned burro named Roo and Rena, a runt pup, grew to be friends and allies who guard sheep on a Nevada ranch. Their story is told in photograph and clear text.
The Guardian Team: On the Job with Rena & Roo
Dodsworth and his companion, a duck, visit Rome, Italy, where Duck takes money from the Trevi Fountain. Dodsworth must figure out how to replace what isn’t his.
Dodsworth in Rome
Vivid retellings and luminous illustrations reinvigorate Greek myths.
Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters
Follow three long ago adventurers who traveled around the world by bike, by herself, and on a sloop. The graphic novel format brings their adventures to life.
Around the World: Three Remarkable Journeys
Alicia, a member of the Ácoma Pueblo in New Mexico, learns the art of pottery from her parents in this photo essay from George Ancona. Follow Alicia throughout the entire process of making pottery, from shale collecting in the canyon to the formation and decoration of pots.
Earth Daughter: Alicia of Acoma Pueblo
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
When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can’t speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river — a sign that it’s almost time to return home.
Shin-chi’s Canoe
Shi-shi-etko has just four days until she will have to leave her family and everything she knows to attend one of Canada’s Indian residential schools. She spends her last precious days at home treasuring and appreciating the beauty of her world — the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather’s paddle song. LaFave’s richly hued illustrations complement Campbell’s gently moving and poetic account of a child who finds solace around her, even though she is on the verge of great loss.
Shi-shi-etko
This comic book is the first volume in a series set in 18th-century colonized North America and based on traditional teachings of the Anishinabek. We follow the story of two mischievous Ojibwe brothers as they play pranks and have amazing adventures using a traditional Ojibwe medicine that transforms them into animals for a short time. The authors include members of the Salteaux and Henvey Inlet First Nations. Additional volumes are available through the Rabbit and Bear Paws website (opens in a new window).
Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The Sugar Bush
An important credo of Native life states that you can learn while you play and play while you learn. Readers can pore over intriguing stories and play these fun-filled games as they learn how global thought and beliefs can transcend their own lives. Sample themes, stories, and games include the Ball Players in the Sky (Passamaquoddy); Gluskabe Brings the Summer (Abenaki); and Nanabush and the Ducks (Anishinabe).
Native American Games and Stories
Bruchac adapts seven traditional tales from various tribes into plays for children. Each play is introduced with a brief tribal background, a list of characters, suggestions for props and scenery, and recommended costumes. Representing tribes from Bruchac’s own Abenaki to the Cherokee, Tlingit, and Zuni, the plays are mostly pourquoi tales, explaining how mosquitos came into the world or why stars are visible at night.
Pushing up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children
For thousands of years, massive herds of buffalo roamed across much of North America, but by the 1870s, fewer than fifteen hundred animals remained. With reverent care, Walking Coyote and his family endeavored to bring back the buffalo herds, one magnificent creature at a time. Here is the inspiring story of the first efforts to save the buffalo, an animal sacred to Native Americans and a powerful symbol of the American West.
Buffalo Song
Product Description: Joseph Bruchac tells the compelling story of how a young boy named Curly seeks a vision in the hope of saving his people — and grows into the brave and fierce warrior Crazy Horse. Sioux artist S. D. Nelson’s paintings, in the traditional ledger style of the Plains Indians, evokes the drama and the tragedy of this important American figure.
Crazy Horse’s Vision
Dorothy became a librarian to share her love of books and reading. How she started a library service first on a bookmobile and later inspired a building — touching many lives in her North Caroline town — is based a real person that the author knew. Gentle language and soft illustration present Miss Dorothy’s story and the impact of one individual.
Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile
The author recalls childhood visits to Orani, her father’s island homeland, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea where old and young alike enjoy Sardinia’s beauty and activities.
Orani: My Father’s Village
A map from a mysterious bottle magically transports a Brooklyn boy to share tea and talk with his grandfather in the Middle East.
Mystery Bottle
Arizona Houston Hughes, an Appalachian girl who dreams of seeing the world, grows up to become a teacher who inspires generations of schoolchildren.
My Great-Aunt Arizona
Set in Zimbabwe, Kukamba leaves the city to visit her grandmother, Gugu, in her small village. Gugu has painted her home with vivid colors and patterns, and has sculpted many animals including a larger-than-life zebra. She is an artist and she shares her secrets of mixing the colors for paint. The rains come and the village is overjoyed. Kukamba is upset because the paintings and sculptures have all washed away, but Gugu shows her that nature has emerged with her own colors after the rain.
Gugu’s House
When Marta ruins her homework and breaks her glasses, Grandmother soothes her with an ancient story and one of her delicious tortillas. Set on the Papago reservation in southern Arizona, watercolor illustrations bring the desert setting and characters to life.
Big Moon Tortilla
Product description: Six island children are running at daybreak over the hills, through the fields, across the city square — to school! Never before has the love of learning (and learning together) been such a joyous time. Denise Lauture’s buoyant, poetic text captures the happiness and youth of energetic children on the way to school; Reynold Ruffins perfectly illustrates the rich beauty of Haiti with the bright-colored vibrance of Haitian folk art. A great read-aloud book for the classroom.
Running the Road to ABCs
Yoko disobeys her mother by taking her special Japanese doll to school and is heartsick when it is broken. Her mother reassures Yoko that she loves her in spite of her mistake and takes Miki to a doll hospital for repair. Textured, evocative illustrations effectively convey feelings and Yoko’s Japanese heritage.
Yoko’s Show and Tell
A bicyclist rides begins his outing near the sea and rides through cities, towns, and the country with the water always in view. Restrained but effective language complements the highly stylized illustrations in limited colors accentuated by the glossy yellow road the bicyclist rides on.