Strong Nations Bundles

Bring the latest Indigenous resources and supporting materials into the classroom with this Elementary School Resource Bundle! 

This bundle includes a wide range of Indigenous and supplementary resources (with publication dates from 2022 to 2023) that cover many topics, themes, and genres to appeal to a wide audience of readers and a range of reading abilities. 

This bundle includes:

• Books from Indigenous authors and artists.  And, books from non-Indigenous authors and artists that connect to Indigenous teachings or work as connecting / supplementary resources.
• Dual-language resources to promote linguistic diversity and support Indigenous language learning.
• Books for both strong and struggling/reluctant readers.
• Resources that cover a variety of themes and topics, such as friendship, family, culture, growing up, belonging/identity, courage, reconciliation, traditional knowledge, environmental awareness, connection to land, the importance of oral tradition, experiences of colonization and decolonization, social-emotional learning, etc.
• A variety of fiction and nonfiction in the form of picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and more!
• An educator resource that includes six contemporary Indigenous stories for students and supporting resources for educators.

Scroll below to learn more about the resources currently included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate. If you have purchased this same bundle from a previous year, there may be duplicates included.

This bundle includes 2023-2024 First Nation Communities READ nominated titles for adults and young adults.

Please Note:

• Some of the titles chosen for the adult/young adult category are children's books.
• As it's not available, this title is not included: Nii Ndahlohke Boys' and Girls' Work at Mount Elgin Industrial School

First Nation Communities READ (FNCR) is the Ontario First Nation Public Library Community's contribution to the reading movement. Launched in 2003, it promotes a community-based approach to reading. Learn more HERE!

Scroll below to learn more about the titles currently included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate.

This bundle includes 2023-2024 First Nation Communities READ nominated titles for children. 

First Nation Communities READ (FNCR) is the Ontario First Nation Public Library Community's contribution to the reading movement. Launched in 2003, it promotes a community-based approach to reading. Learn more HERE!

Scroll below to learn more about the titles currently included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate.

The 2023 Edition of From Sea to Sea to Sea features a collection of 25 of the best Indigenous picture books published in Canada between 2020 and 2022.

To learn more about IBBY Canada and this list of picture books, visit https://www.ibby-canada.org/indigenous-picture-book-collection/

This bundle does not include the From Sea to Sea to Sea resource Still This Love Goes On.

Title availability may fluctuate. Scroll below to learn more about the resources included from this list at this time. Books that are in reprint or out of print are not included in the bundle price and will not be included in your order.

This bundle includes all four titles in the A Girl Called Echo series:

• Pemmican Wars
• Red River Resistance
• Northwest Resistance
• Road Allowance Era

A Girl Called Echo is a graphic novel series by Governor General Award-winning writer and author of The Seven Teaching Stories Katherena Vermette.

This graphic novel series explores the life of a Métis teenager through illustrated storytelling. Each book follows Echo Desjardins and her travels back through time, which illuminates important periods and events in Métis history in an engaging, visually stimulating way for teenage audiences.

A teacher's guide is available for purchase separately: Teacher Guide for A Girl Called Echo: Learning About the History and Culture of the Metis Nation in Grades 7-8.

Or, purchase all the student books and the teacher's guide together here: Teacher Resource Bundle: A Girl Called Echo.

Note: All four of the titles in the A Girl Called Echo series can now be purchased in a single work: A Girl Called Echo Omnibus. The special omnibus edition also includes a forward by Chantal Fiola, a historical timeline, and an essay about Metis being and belonging by Brenda Macdougall. 

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all four titles in the Algonquin Quest Series:

• I Am Algonquin
• Algonquin Spring
• Algonquin Sunset
• Algonquin Legacy

The Algonquin Quest Series is a series of young adult novels from Algonquin author Rick Revelle.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all the titles in the Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich: 

• The Birchbark House
• The Game of Silence
• The Porcupine Year
• Chickadee
• Makoons

Birchbark House is a series of Indigenous juvenile fiction novels that follows a character known as Omakayas and her Ojibwe community.

Recommended for grades 3 to 7.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all three books in the Danny Blackgoat series by Tim Tingle:

• Danny Blackgoat: Navajo Prisoner
• Danny Blackgoat: Rugged Road to Freedom
• Danny Blackgoat: Dangerous Passage

Danny Blackgoat is a series of books about Danny Blackgoat, a Navajo teenager.

Books in this series are also part of the PathFinders series, a series of Hi-Lo (high interest, low readability) novels that offers features including Indigenous teen protagonists, age-appropriate plots, 2.5 - 4.5 Reading Level, and contemporary and historical fiction from Indigenous authors.

Recommended for grades 7 to 11.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all titles in the Jo Jo Makoons series:

• Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend
• Jo Jo Makoons: Fancy Pants
• Jo Jo Makoons: Snow Day
• Jo Jo Makoons: Rule School
• Jo Jo Makoons: The Super-Scary Sleepover

Jo Jo Makoons is a chapter book series by Dawn Quigley that celebrates a spunky young Ojibwe girl.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all three titles in the Little Wolf Trilogy:

• Little Wolf
• White Raven
• Abalone Woman

The Little Wolf Trilogy is a children's book series by Heiltsuk author Teoni Spathelfer for children ages 4 to 8.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all three titles in the Métis Fiddle Trilogy:

• Fiddle Dancer
• Dancing in My Bones
• Call of the Fiddle

The Métis Fiddle Trilogy is about a young boy who discovers and embraces his Métis heritage and carries on his family's traditions.

Books in the Métis Fiddle Trilogy include a CD with English and Michif Narrations of the story and fiddle music.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all the titles in Sk'ad'a Stories series, written by Robert Davidson and Sara Florence Davidson with art from Janine Gibbons:

• Jigging for Halibut With Tsinii
• Learning to Carve Argillite
• Dancing With Our Ancestors
• Returning to the Yakoun River.

The Sk'ad'a Stories series brings the Sk'ad'a Principles to life.

Recommended for grades 1 to 3.

Find a teacher guide for the Sk'ada Stories here: Teacher Guide for the Sk'ad'a Stories Series: Intergenerational Learning and Storytelling in the Classroom.

Find the student books and teacher's guide available in a single bundle here: Teacher Resource Bundle: Sk'ad'a Stories.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all the titles in the Spencer the Siksik - Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit series:

• Spencer and Gary Make a Decision
• Spencer the Siksik Cleans Up
• Spencer and Gary Help Their Elders
• Spencer the Siksik Solves a Problem
• Spencer the Siksik Helps His Friend
• Spencer the Siksik Makes a New Friend

The series teaches children about the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) principles, a set of Inuit beliefs, values, and communal laws focused on living a good life and the ways one is expected to behave. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit literally translates to "that which Inuit have always known to be true."

Recommended for grades 1 to 3.

Scroll below to learn more about the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate as titles go in and out of print. The status of each book is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all the titles in the Spirit Bear series:

• Spirit Bear and Children Make History: Based on a True Story
• Spirit Bear: Fishing for Knowledge, Catching Dreams: Based on a True Story
• Spirit Bear: Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams: Based on a True Story
• Spirit Bear: Echoes of the Past: Based on a True Story

Every book in the Spirit Bear series is based on true events in relation to reconciliation education.  The books teach all children and youth that "just because you're small, doesn't mean you can't stand tall!" 

Scroll below to learn more about the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate as titles go in and out of print. The status of each book is displayed below. 

This bundle includes all five titles in the Stories of Our People / Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif series.

• How Michif was Lost
• Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
• Whistle for Protection
• Sins of the Righteous
• Attack of the Roogaroos!

Stories of Our People / Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif: A Métis Graphic Novel Anthology includes five individual comics/stories from Métis authors.

This series is a departure from other books about Indigenous or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork get progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story. This project came to life from the stories of our Elders.

Recommended for grades 6 to 9.

Scroll below to learn more about each of the resources included in this bundle. Title availability may fluctuate, as titles go in and out of print. The status of each title, indicating whether it will be included in the bundle, is displayed below.