Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with some fun and educational reads!
Picture Books
Finding My DanceIn her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage.
This gentle picture-book lullaby is a celebration of the plants and animals of the Prairies and the Plains and a meditation on the sacred, ancestral connections between Indigenous children and their Traditional Territories.
Fry BreadThis volume tells the story of a post-colonial food that is a shared tradition for Native American families all across the North American continent.
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.
Juvenile
MascotSix eighth graders outside Washington, DC, navigate through conflict and division focused on their school district’s Native American mascot.
Rabbit ChaseAnishinaabe culture and storytelling meet Alice in Wonderland in this coming-of-age graphic novel that explores Indigenous and gender issues through a fresh yet familiar looking glass.
ThunderousIf Aiyana hears one more traditional Lakota story, she’ll scream! More interested in her social media presence than her Native American heritage, Aiyana is shocked when she suddenly finds herself in a magical world-with no cell coverage! Pursued by the trickster Raven, Aiyana struggles to get back home, but is helped by friends and allies she meets along the way. Her dangerous journey through the Spirit World tests her fortitude and challenges her to embrace her Lakota heritage. But will it be enough to defeat the cruel and powerful Raven?
Two TribesMia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn’t want to talk about him, but Mia can’t help but feel like she’s missing a part of herself without him in her life. Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma–without telling her mom–to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.
Teen
Harvest HouseHalloween is coming up, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new rural attraction: Harvest House. He’s excited about working on a fun, spooky project…until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an ‘Indian maiden’–a ghost inspired by a local legend–will be the star of the show. Local legend aside, unusual things have been happening late at night at the crossroads by Harvest House. Young women–particularly Indigenous women–are being followed by a creepy man; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. When the big sister of Hughie’s best pal reports a disturbing encounter, Hughie and his friends decide to investigate, determined to find out if rumors of a looming supernatural threat are true
Warrior Girl UnearthedPerry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is–the laid-back twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the already striking number of missing Indigenous women continues to rise, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything. In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.
Nonfiction
ContendersThe 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.
Native American Stories for Kids
Kids will embark on a literary adventure with 12 stories from tribes around America, exploring lore about how the mountain Denali formed, why the North Star stays still, and more.
Sharice’s Big VoiceThis picture book autobiography tells the remarkable story of Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first LGBTQ congressperson to represent Kansas.
We Are Still Here!Highlighting the fact that contemporary Native life is ongoing, this picture book presents truths about Native Americans that everyone should know.