Native American Heritage Month Great Books for KidsLike this list

94 items

• Brave Like the Buffalo

  Allan, Melissa,

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  A children’s book with a message that will inspire all readers to face the storms in their life. This story uses a powerful animal, the buffalo, as a symbolic message and connection to Indigenous ways of knowing and being that helps to create a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Pencil

  Avingaq, Susan,

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  Based on the author’s childhood memories of growing up in an iglu, this charming story introduces young readers to the idea of using things wisely.

• Mashkiki Road

  the Seven Grandfather Teachings

  Barrett, Elizabeth S.,

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  Three young cousins explore the woods in search of medicines that heal and purify, also gathering advice from wise beings who offer life lessons cherished through generations.

• The Powwow Thief

  Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-

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  Twins Jamie and Marie Longbow are excited to spend the summer with their grandparents, traveling from powwow to powwow selling goods they helped make. But when their grandmother's necklace goes missing, it's up to the twins to solve a mystery.

• Bowwow Powwow

  Bagosenjige-niimi'idim

  Child, Brenda J., 1959-

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  When Uncle and Windy Girl and Itchy Boy attend a powwow, Windy watches the dancers in their jingle dresses and listens to the singers. She eats tasty food and joins family and friends around the campfire. Later, Windy falls asleep under the stars.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Loaf the Cat Goes to the Pow Wow

  DeShaw, Nicholas,

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  When her boy disappears one day, Loaf the cat decides to find him by following his scent to a place where there are drums, colors and lots of people and, after he’s done dancing, greets him in her special way, making the powwow one he’ll never…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Range Eternal

  Erdrich, Louise,

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  A young Native American girl who considers her family's wood-burning stove to be the heart of her home in the Turtle Mountains must adapt when it is replaced.

• Let's Go!

  Haw Êkwa!

  Flett, Julie,

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  Every day, a little boy watches kids pass by on skateboards, and dreams of joining them. One day, his mother brings a surprise: her old skateboard, just for him! haw êkwa! Let’s go! Together, they practice on the sidewalk, at the park, in Auntie’s…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Benjamin's Thunderstorm

  Florence, Melanie,

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  In this rainy-day story, a thunderstorm evokes a boy's family traditions. Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles and watching a rainbow's colors as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Stolen Words

  Florence, Melanie,

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  The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Berry Song

  Goade, Michaela,

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  As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.

• Moon Song

  Goade, Michaela,

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  Celebrated Tlingit creator Michaela Goade, who brought us a summer's celebration in the Caldecott Honor Award‑winning Berry Song, invites us to discover the wonder and comfort of a winter's night through a magnificent Moon Song.

• Forever Cousins

  Goodluck, Laurel,

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  Amanda and Kara are cousins and best friends in an intertribal Native American family. 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.

• Rock Your Mocs

  Goodluck, Laurel,

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  In this happy, vibrant tribute to Rock Your Mocs Day, observed on November 15, author Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian) and artist Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw) celebrate the joy and power of wearing moccasins—and the Native pride…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Too Much

  My Great Big Native Family

  Goodluck, Laurel,

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  When Russell tries to share exciting news with his large, Native family, he struggles with being heard, but after he ventures out on his own he realizes how much he loves his family.

• Keepunumuk

  Weeâchumun's Thanksgiving Story

  Greendeer, Danielle,

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  The Thanksgiving story that most Americans know celebrates the Pilgrims. But without members of the Wampanoag tribe who already lived on the land where the Pilgrims settled, the Pilgrims would never have made it through their first winter. And…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The First Blade of Sweetgrass

  a Native American Story

  Greenlaw, Suzanne,

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  Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Song of the Raven

  An Inuit Tale of Harmony With Nature

  Hall, Amanda,

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  When Inuit boy Little Darkness finds a strange object on the ice, he is swept up in an adventure that takes him into a vast world beyond imagining that will change him, the Earth and all its inhabitants forever.

• Remember

  Harjo, Joy,

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  The poignant picture book adaptation of the U.S. Poet Laureate’s iconic poem urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into and how everyone on Earth is connected.

• Why We Dance

  a Story of Hope and Healing

  Havrelock, Deidre,

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