Native American

A Native American (Pawnee) tale of family love and forgiveness.

Baby Rattlesnake wants a rattle like his older siblings have. His crying keeps the rattlesnake elders up all night so his parents give him a new rattle. Sure enough, he misuses his new rattle. When he tries to scare the chief's daughter, she steps on his rattle and crushes it. Sad and defeated, he returns to his forgiving family who give him "big rattlesnake hugs."

Educator Information
Guided Reading: K
Lexile: AD550L
Interest Level: Grades K - 3
Reading Level: Grades 3 - 3

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.25" x 11.25" | Told by Te Ata, Adapted by Lynn Moroney

Additional Information
64 pages | 7.50" x 10.00"

The rich Native American tradition of carrying babies safely, comfortably and close to their mothers in cradle boards endures to this day. Cradle Me celebrates Native American families and shows how they carry their babies and, with a fill-in-the-line feature, enbables readers to translate the words to write their own language.

Reviews
"In a book tailor-made for babies (who love looking at other babies), Slier introduces eleven infants from different Native American tribes, safely and (for the most part) happily secured in their cradleboards. Each picture is accompanied by a single word describing the baby’s actions or emotions. The culturally specific and the humanly universal are both depicted here." —Horn Book

Long ago, when a great flood cleansed the land of unhappiness, the Grandfather sent Wanjblí the eagle to save one virtuous member of the human race and teach her how to live a good life. The eagle is a powerful symbol of courage, wisdom, and strength. In Kevin’s book he shares an inspiring vision of unity and hope for a new generation teaching children to recognize the eagle in themselves and others and always to soar above the darkness into the light.

Additional Information
40 pages | 8.50" x 11.00"

In Navajo families, the first person to make a new baby laugh hosts the child's First Laugh Ceremony. Who will earn the honor in this story?

The First Laugh Ceremony is a celebration held to welcome a new member of the community. As everyone--from Baby's nima (mom) to nadi (big sister) to cheii (grandfather)--tries to elicit the joyous sound from Baby, readers are introduced to details about Navajo life and the Navajo names for family members. Back matter includes information about other cultural ceremonies that welcome new babies and children, including man yue celebration (China), sanskaras (Hindu) and aquiqa (Muslim).

Reviews
"In Navajo families, a baby’s first laugh is more than a developmental milestone—it’s an honor to be the first person who makes the baby laugh, and the event is commemorated with a joyous gathering called the First Laugh Ceremony. The baby in this story, however, is making the family work for his giggles. “Your mouth open wide... It stretches... A smile? Oh, no. It’s a sleepy pink yawn,” write Tahe (a Navajo educator who died in 2015) and Flood (Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo). Not even baby’s ninaai (big brother), with his silly faces, can coax a grin. Then one day, cheii (grandfather) holds the baby high in the air, nima-sani (grandmother) whispers a traditional prayer, and “like babies everywhere—long ago and today—you laugh!” Debut illustrator Nelson, also of Navajo descent, contributes cartooning that captures an expansive, brilliantly hued outdoors and a close-knit family delighted with their newest addition. An extensive afterword gives more information on the ceremony as well as on baby celebrations in other cultures." — Publisher's Weekly

Educator Information
Recommended Ages: 2-5

Includes information about other cultural ceremonies that welcome new babies and children, making this a great resource for discussions of diversity and cultures around the world.

Additional Information

Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner Juana Martinez-Neal.

Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.

Educator Information
Includes a recipe for the author's fry bread at the back.

Additional Information

An action-packed coming-of-age story, Gift Horse is a wonderfully evocative introduction to 19th century Native American life on the Great Plains. When his father gives him a gift horse, marking the beginning of his journey to manhood, Flying Cloud and the horse, Storm, spend their days hunting and roughhousing with the other boys and their horses. But when an enemy raiding party steals his beloved Storm, Flying Cloud faces the ultimate rite of passage. He must join the rescue party and earn the right to wear the shirt of a warrior.

Bold, colorful artwork inspired by the style of the early Plains Indians, illustrates the day-to-day life of the Lakota and tells the story of a boy accepting the challenges of manhood. An author's note gives a brief history of the Lakota and explains the traditions discussed in the story.

Additional Information 
40 pages | 9.25" x 10.62"

For as long as anyone can remember, Mohawk parents have taught their children to start each day by giving thanks to Mother Earth. Also known as the Thanksgiving Address, this good morning message is based on the belief that the natural world is a precious and rare gift. The whole universe — from the highest stars to the tiniest blade of grass — is addressed as one great family.

Now readers of all ages can share in this tribute to the environment, adapted especially for children by Chief Jake Swamp, whose efforts to share this vision of thanksgiving take him all over the world. Chief Swamp's inspirational message, along with Erwin Printup, Jr.'s unforgettable landscapes, make Giving Thanks a timeless celebration of the spirit of nature.

Additional Information
24 pages | 7.46" x 11.01"

A Cherokee folk tale featuring woodland animals working together.

After Possum and Buzzard fail in their attempts to steal a piece of the sun, Grandmother Spider succeeds in bringing light to the animals on her side of the world.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.30" x 10.70"

While Kimmy's parents look for a house close to Daddy's job, Kimmy stays with her Chippewa grandmother. The bad dreams she has had still bother her. But with her grandmother's help, she learns about dreamcatchers.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.00" x 10.00"

In this retelling of a Native American pourquoi tale, Brown Squirrel challenges prideful Bear to keep the sun from rising.

Bear brags that he can do anything-even stop the sun from rising. Brown Squirrel doesn't believe him, so the two wait all night to see if the sun will rise. Sure enough, the sky reddens and the sun appears. Brown Squirrel is so happy to be right that he teases Bear. What happens when a little brown squirrel teases a big black bear? Brown Squirrel gets stripes and is called chipmunk from that day forward . . . Joseph and James Bruchac join forces to create this buoyant picture book, based on a Native American folktale.

Educator Information
Recommended Ages: 5-8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.00" x 10.00"

The affirming story of how a contemporary Native American girl turns to her family and community to help her dance find a voice.

Jenna, a contemporary Muscogee (Creek) girl, loves the tradition of jingle dancing that has been shared by generations of women in her family, and she hopes to dance at the next powwow. But she has a problem—how will her dress sing if it has no jingles?

The cone-shaped jingles sewn to Grandma Wolfe's dress sing tink, tink, tink, tink.

Jenna's heart beats to the brum, brum, brum, brum of the powwow drum as she daydreams about the clinking song of her grandma's jingle dancing.

The warm, evocative watercolors of Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu complement author Cynthia Leitich Smith's lyrical text in this picture book. Perfect for classroom and library sharing.

Educator Information
Suggested Ages: 4-8.

Additional Information
32 pages | 9.25" x 11.00"

Whether it is a gentle kiss from mom, a hug from dad, a playful romp with an older brother, or reading with grandpa, babies and toddlers will discover the importance of family relationships in these charming photographs of Native American families. Loving Me features multi-generational family members loving and caring for a child, as they caress and tenderly show their babies and young children how much they are loved.

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Native American cultures, language arts, cultural awareness, family relationships, responsibility, first words, self-awareness, guardianship, multi-generational families, growing up, read aloud.

Features photographs of Native American families.

Additional Information
32 pages | 11.00" x 8.50"

In this classic, bestselling story of a child testing the limits of her independence, a mother reassures that a parent's love is unconditional and everlasting. This universal story is made all the more captivating by its unusual Arctic setting. Complemented by a detailed glossary, this tender story introduces young readers to a distinctively different culture and shows that the special love between parent and child transcends all boundaries of time and place.

Reviews
"A young girl asks how much her mother loves her, even when she is naughty, and receives warm, reassuring answers. The twist on this familiar theme is that the two are Inuits, and the text and pictures draw on their unique culture: "What if I put salmon in your parka, ermine in your mittens, and lemmings in your mukluks?" asks the girl. Two pages of back matter define and explain the functions of various terms in Inuit life past and present. Charming, vibrant watercolor illustrations expand the simple rhythmic text, adding to the characters' personalities and to the cultural information. Ceremonial masks appear in the corner of several pages and on the endpapers, a nice detail in a well-designed book." - School Library Journal 

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.50" x 9.50"

From Anishanabe artists making birch bark bowls to Zuni elders saying prayers for the day that is done, the diversity of Native American cultures is simply presented in this unique and beautiful alphabet book.

Educator Information
Grades: 1-5
Guided Reading: M