Celebrating Indigenous Voices
In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and National Native American Heritage Month, we have made a list of some of our favorite books about Indigenous communities, cultures, and history to share with your little one. Whether you are looking to celebrate your identity, or learn something new, these books are a fantastic way to do so!
This is the perfect story to cuddle up with and prepare for the changing of the seasons as we approach the wintery dark. On an island at the edge of a silvery sea, when the moon rises and night falls, a girl spins a story for her worried cousin to help him find comfort in the wintery dark. She invites him to see moonlight glittering in the forest, bioluminescence sparkling by the shore, and northern lights blazing in the sky. In the dark of the night, the whole world sings.
Zoon’s shadow is always in his way. It makes a mess of his room, disrupts his class at school, and trips him on the soccer field. Zoon doesn’t know what to do! Until he tells his grandmother about it, and she gives him his grandfather’s drum. Its rhythm is like a heartbeat. If only Zoon can listen to the drum’s song, and ultimately to his own heart, he may yet find a way to thrive alongside his shadow.
Pawis‑Steckley’s striking, graphic art brings to vibrant life both the challenges of controlling our trickster impulses and the luminosity of ancestral and inner wisdom, paving the way for us all to listen to our hearts.
Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded history and folklore. Life-saving disinfectant. Forest fire management. Our lives would be unrecognizable without these, and countless other, scientific discoveries and technological inventions from Indigenous North Americans. Spanning topics from transportation to civil engineering, hunting technologies, astronomy, brain surgery, architecture, and agriculture, Indigenous Ingenuity is a wide-ranging STEM offering that answers the call for Indigenous nonfiction by reappropriating hidden history. And with activities and experiments your young reader can explore their inner inventor—a book that is the perfect blend of learning and fun!
Thunder Boy Jr. wants a normal name…one that’s all his own. Dad is known as big Thunder, but little thunder doesn’t want to share a name. He wants a name that celebrates something cool he’s done like Touch the Clouds, Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth, or Full of Wonder. But just when Little Thunder thinks all hope is lost, dad picks the best name… Together the two show their loud and bright love, as it lights up the sky!
A joyous intergenerational celebration of gender self-expression and acceptance through an Indigenous lens! Raven loves Round Dances. The drums sing to the people. The people dance to the music. Raven’s favorite part is to watch the ribbon skirts, swirling like a rainbow. He wishes he could have a ribbon skirt of his own, but his grandmother has never seen a boy wearing one. Until the next round dance, when it turns out that even someone who has lived a long time can see wonderful things that they’ve never seen before.
In the spirit of beloved books like Julián is a Mermaid, here is a moving intergenerational story celebrating identity, self-expression, and the realization that even within our traditions, there is room for beautiful reinvention.
Bizzy can’t wait to dance with all her friends and family at the summer gathering this year! But first, she must make the perfect regalia. It’s tricky work, even with a grown-up’s help, and her high expectations come crashing down in a flurry of torn fabric, loose beads, and tears. With support from her mom, grandma, and little brother, can Bizzy learn to see past the flaws, finish her work, and remember what’s really important?
When Ojiig moves to the city with his family, he misses everything they left behind. Most of all, he misses the sparkling night sky. Without the stars watching over him, he feels lost.
His parents try to help, but nothing seems to work. Not glow-in-the-dark sticker stars, not a star-shaped nightlight. But then they have a new idea for how to make Ojiig feel better — a special quilt stitched through with family stories that will wrap Ojiig in the warmth of knowing who he is and where he came from. Join this irresistible family as they discover the power of story and tradition to make a new place feel like home.
Pia rushes over to the Indigenous community center after school. It’s where she goes every day to play outside with friends and work on her homework. But today—March 18, 2021—is special: Auntie Autumn gathers all the children around their television to witness Secretary Deb Haaland in her ribbon skirt at the White House as she becomes the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. Pia and the other kids behold her Native pride on an international stage. Together with their parents and Elders, the children explore the values woven into their own regalia, land, community, and traditions, making precious memories on this day they won’t soon forget.
