Ahenakew, Freda (Cree), Wisahkecahk Flies to the Moon. 1999, color illustrations by Sherry Farrell Racette (Timiskaming).

Wisahkecahk gets to the moon by hanging onto the legs of a crane and, when the moon disappears from under him, falls to earth and is covered with mud. That's why the crane's legs are so long, and why those soft spots on earth are called “muskegs.” This traditional Cree story is written in Cree and English, and Racette’s illustrations are luminous.
pb 7.00

Zipitio. 2003, translated by Elisa Amado, color illustrations by Gloria Calderón.

In the Pipil/Nahua tradition, the Zipitio is older than the rocks, older than the river. He wears a black hat, has a round belly, and his feet point backward. When a girl sees the Zipitio at the river, that means he has fallen in love with her as he has always fallen in love with every young woman in the village: it is a sign that she is about to become a woman. Here, Rufina’s mother tells her all about the Zipitio so that she is not frightened when she sees him, and then helps her to deal with his love. Calderón’s bright illustrations complement this lovely story.
hc 17.00

Neekna and Chemai. 1991, color illustrations by Barbara Marchand (Okanagan).

Neekna and Chemai are two little girls, best friends, growing up in the Okanagan Valley before the coming of the white people. For these girls, secure in the love and warmth of their relations, all the world is a beautiful adventure. They learn the stories and lifeways from mothers, grandmothers and little mothers. They are at home in the world in a way that may be inconceivable to contemporary non-Native society. Neekna and Chemai is a gift from the Okanagan people to a world in sore need of what they have to offer.
pb 11.00

Beardslee, Lois (Ojibwe/Lacandon), Waboseg (An Ojibwe story about Rabbits' ears). 1997, b/w illustrations by the author.

“Everyone knows that Waboseg (Rabbits) love wildflowers. In the warmest days of spring, when young Zweegun (Springtime) arrives from the south, to coax old Biboon (Winter) back to his home in the north, the rabbits begin to nibble.” But Zweegun, being just a young girl, “kept forgetting about the job she was supposed to do.” Zweegun's forgetfulness causes the Waboseg to eat too many wildflowers, causing the Amoog (Bees) to make less honey, causing the Mukwag (Bears) to make a difficult decision—and the Waboseg wind up with long ears. This sweet little book was handmade by the author.
pb 7.50

 

Baby Learns about Animals
Baby Learns about Seasons
Baby Learns about Time
Baby Learns about Weather
Baby Learns to Count
Baby Learns about Senses

2003, color illustrations by the author.

These six beautifully illustrated bilingual board books for the very youngest picture-readers show Baby learning the things Diné babies learn. Our favorite answers the question: Who will make Baby laugh?
each title, hc 8.00

Crazy Horse's Vision. 2000, color illustrations by S.D. Nelson (Lakota).

Much has been written about the great visionary and war leader Teshunke Witko, whom the whites know as Crazy Horse, and most of it is little more than speculation from a white perspective. What is known of his childhood and coming to manhood is mostly carried in the stories from generation to generation of the Lakota people. Without polemic, without romanticism, Bruchac tells the story of Crazy Horse's childhood and the vision that was to direct his adult life. S.D. Nelson’s full-color paintings are luminous.
hc 19.00, pb 10.00

Dog People: Native Dog Stories. 1995, color illustrations by Murv Jacob (Cherokee).

Here, the voice of the storyteller takes us back some 10,000 years, when dogs were considered important family members and were given names that spoke of their value and loyalty. In these five very readable stories, Hummingbird and her new puppy, Awasosis (Little Bear), learn how dogs came to the people; Muskrat and his dog, Kwaniwibid (Long Tooth), find out that nothing can defeat them as long as they are together; Soksemo (Good Nose), the faithful dog of Keeps-Following-the-Trail, summons his people when help is needed; Rabbit Stick and little Mikwe (Squirrel) help Sweetgrass Girl and Moosis (Little Moose) rescue her parents; and Cedar Girl and Azeban (Raccoon) foil a kidnapping. A plus in these fast-moving stories is that all of the dogs are related, and the human characters also are relatives or friends.
pb 16.00

Eagle Song. 1997, b/w illustrations.

Danny Bigtree, a fourth-grade Mohawk youngster whose family has just relocated from the Akwesasne reservation in upstate New York to Brooklyn, has a tough time making friends, especially when the usual teasing of the new kid in class takes the form of racial taunting. With the help of his strong, caring family, how Danny deals with a big problem common to many children is a story that will appeal to young readers.
pb 5.00

The Faithful Hunter. 1988, b/w illustrations by John Kahionhes Fadden (Mohawk).

In these traditional tales of animal tricksters and human heroes, ordinary people and wonderful events from the People of the Dawnland, Bruchac demonstrates how Abenaki children were and continue to be taught about land, culture, and community: about relations between the plants, trees, and animals; about family responsibilities and right behavior; about the importance of patience, courage, loyalty, humility and humor. Fadden’s pen-and-ink illustrations are perfect.
pb 10.00

Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children. 2000, b/w and color illustrations.

Here, Bruchac uses drama in his adaptations of traditional stories from the Abenaki, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Ojibwe, Snohomish, Tlingit and Zuni nations. Most of these plays are based on “how-it-came-to-be” stories, and feature the trickster-heroes Gluskabe, Rabbit, Wihio and Raven. The “characters” include, in addition to humans and the other well-known animals, elements of creation such as Sun, Wind, Fire, Water, Snow and Rock. Youngsters will have fun acting in these well-done plays, the directions of which accommodate both large and small groups. Caveat: Teachers should pay careful attention to Bruchac’s directions and dialogue, and to his suggestions for minimalist props and costumes. For non-Indian children and their teachers, there can be a fine line between dramatizing a traditional Indian story and “playing Indian.” Please: no “war paint,” no feathers, no whooping, no hopping on one foot.
hc 22.00

Raccoon’s Last Race. 2004, color illustrations by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey.

In this traditional Abenaki story, Azban (Raccoon) is up to his old tricks again, this time challenging the other animals to race, and taunting them at every turn. Having long legs and being a fast runner feeds both his self-confidence and bad manners to the point where he’s gonna really need some comeuppance. Which he gets. As with the Bruchacs’ earlier Turtle’s Race with Beaver and How Chipmunk Got His Stripes, young listeners will ask to hear this one over and over.
hc 17.00

Callaway, Sydney M. (Dinè), Gary Witherspoon (Dinè) and others, Grandfather Stories of the Navajos. 1974, b/w illustrations by Hoke Denetsosie (Diné) and Clifford Beck, jr. (Diné).

These traditional stories of the kind that Diné grandfathers tell their grandchildren were originally published by the Navajo Curriculum Center of the Rough Rock Demonstration School for Navajo youngsters who had been denied an opportunity to read and learn about themselves. In Diné and English, these are origin stories that teach proper relationships and behavior between the animals, the earth people and the gods; historical accounts that deal with events of the past 200 years; and lessons about social and religious mores. All of these stories are rich in information, and good for reading and telling.
pb 15.00

Campbell, Nicola L. (Interior Salish/Métis), Shi-shi-etko. 2005, color illustrations by Kim LaFave.

In just four days, young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave everyone she loves and everything she knows—to go to an Indian residential school where, among other things, her name, language and identity will be taken away. Until recently, this was the law and the harsh reality for Native children in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. “Can you imagine a community without children?” Campbell writes in a brief foreword. “Can you imagine children without parents?” As Shi-shi-etko counts down the days, her large extended family fills her with their love, memories, and the strength to endure what they know will happen and what they are powerless to prevent. With her mother, a morning prayer in the creek. With her father, a paddle song in the canoe. With her yahyah, a visit to the woods. A sprig of hemlock, cedar and pine placed into a small deerskin bag. Too soon, it is time. With a prayer and an offering of tobacco, Shi-shi-etko tucks her deerskin bag inside the roots of a big fir tree, to wait for her return. She takes in everything one last time—“tall grass swaying to the rhythm of the breeze, determined mosquitoes, working bumblebees…each shiny rock, the sand beneath her feet, crayfish and minnows and tadpoles…” This sad and gentle story needs to be read over and over, that this shameful part of history is not repeated.
hc 17.00

For a full review click HERE.

Children of La Loche and Friends (Dene), Byron Through the Seasons/Byron Bel Haet'azí luk'é Sine. 1990, color illustrations.

This book was written, illustrated and translated by Dene students in Saskatchewan, with assistance their teachers, local advisors and elders. In the story, Grandfather Jonas visits Byron’s classroom to tell the students about the seasons in La Loche, recalling significant events in the daily life of the Dene people. As Jonas speaks, Byron dreams, transporting himself into the story. In Dene and English, the story emphasizes continuity of culture, and it’s a lovely example of what children, with encouragement, can do.
pb 8.00

From Karin Clark; stories of Salish, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu Chah Nulth First Nations

A collaborative effort between the Victoria Native Friendship Centre and the First Nations Division of the Greater Victoria School District, these little books were written in consultation with First Nations elders, students, parents, and Native advisors in the school district. As a result, these stories of Salish, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Nuu Chah Nulth peoples, published in 1994 and beautifully illustrated with black-and-white line drawings, demonstrate the traditional value of inclusion.

First Nations Families.

“This is my mother. She likes to go to movies with her friend. This is my brother. He likes to cry. This is my grandpa. He likes to tell stories. This is my mother. She likes to do aerobics. This is my dog. He likes to scratch.” In this simple excellent reader, First Nations children introduce the reader to all their relatives, and what they “like” to do. In an important “plus,” families are diagrammed, and silhouettes of a man or woman in the family diagram mean that that person is “out of the picture” for that child.
pb 7.50

First Nations Technology.

For young readers, this is a deceptively simple and excellent discussion of old-time and modern technology: “Long ago, our people used canoes to hunt, to fish, to gather, and to travel. Today, some of our people still use canoes to hunt, fish, gather and travel. But mostly, we use motor boats, fish boats, trucks, cars or vans, motorbikes, bicycles or planes to hunt, fish, gather or travel.”
pb 7.50

Grandma's Special Feeling.

Whenever Grandma gets that “special feeling,” the children know they're about to pile into the van, “get out into nature,” and get a lesson about how First Nations peoples used to live in the old days; and Grandma knows that the children need to be able to experience what she wants to talk to them about. As she passes on this knowledge to the children, she also passes on cultural history about how respect was and continues to be shown to the plants—how they are acknowledged for their contributions and assured they will not be over-harvested.
pb 7.50

Wait for Me!

This is a touching little book about the importance of noticing the world. Charlie’s brother and sister call him “Turtle” because he’s always stopping to look at something interesting instead of keeping up with them. Charlie is intensely interested in everything he sees and wants to share his interest with them, but they are impatient, in a hurry. While Granny knows Charlie’s ways and draws him out, Grandpa draws a lesson from the conversation, confirming Charlie’s perspective, and the sibs come to admire him.
pb 7.50

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Beaver Steals Fire: a Salish Coyote Story. 2005, told by Johnny Arlee (Salish), color illustrations by Sam Sandoval (Salish).

Here, the Salish and Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee reminds us that “the elders usually bring out the stories in November and put them away again when the snow is gone.” The stories are real and alive. They are a treasure to be treated carefully and lovingly, taken out at the right time and then put away to rest until it is time to take them out again. Coyote is appointed the leader of an all-animal-being raiding party to the sky world, to steal fire for themselves and the humans, who have not yet arrived. After devising a clever plan, Coyote, with Grizzly Bear, Wren, Snake, Frog, Eagle, and Beaver bravely and resourcefully respond to the many dangers hurled their way. “This story,” as Salish historian Germaine White writes, “teaches our children how difficult it was to bring fire from the sky world and how important it was to animals and humans. Now it is time for humans to return the gift of fire to the animals.” With Johnny Arlee’s spare telling and Sam Sandoval’s luminous watercolor art, Beaver Steals Fire will appeal to the youngest readers and listeners.
pb 13.00

For a full review click HERE.

Crow, Allan (Ojibwe), The Crying Christmas Tree. 1989, color illustrations by David Beyer (Cree/Métis).

In this story, Crow transmits an important cultural marker—allowing individuals to find their own ways of doing what is appropriate. When Grandma returns from the woods where she has gone to choose the family Christmas tree, her grandsons laugh at the scrawny tree she has brought home. Heartbroken, she dreams of the little tree, lying outside in the snow, lonely and crying. But she shares her feelings only with Grandpa, and when they return from town to celebrate the holiday with the family, she finds the children have realized the love she must have for them and have demonstrated their love for her as well. Here is a lesson learned without a reminder by any adults, a wonderful holiday story everyone will appreciate.
pb 11.00

Cuthand, Beth (Cree) and Stan Cuthand (Cree), The Little Duck/Sikihpsis. 1999, color illustrations by Mary Longman (Salteaux).

There’s this little mud duck, plain even by duck standards, but especially plain when he compares himself to the humans. Oh, how he admires the Cree whose camp is near the muddy swamp he calls home: “full of beautiful women and handsome men and playful, happy children, not to mention the fine horses and smart dogs.” As he prepares for a life of utter loneliness, he hears “the sounds of many mud ducks calling…” And the little mud duck knows where he belongs, in his own body, in his own community, with his own duck people. This extraordinary and deep little story, in Cree and English, with no stated “moral,” will resonate with little kids. And the pictures—rich watercolors in jeweled tones—appear to glow. Lovely.
hc 17.00

Pepere Played the Fiddle. 2006, color illustrations by the author.

“We worked hard by daylight/’Til all the chores were done/Then everyone would gather/To have a lot of fun./Pepere played the fiddle/Memere danced the jig./Mon nook kept the rhythm/With spoons that weren’t too big.” Youngest readers and listeners are invited to this 1940s-era house party (which could take place today) of fiddling, spoon-playing, feet-tapping and dancing. In English with Michif words sprinkled throughout, Pepere Played the Fiddle is a celebration of Métis life and culture.
pb 11.00

Kyle's Bath. 1984, b/w illustrations by Wendy Wolsak.

Everybody loves taking baths, right? Wrong! Energetic little Kyle definitely does not, so he decides on a plan for never having to bathe again. Wolsak’s soft pencil drawings complement this gentle little story about the futility of trying to outwit one’s mother.
pb 6.00

Red Parka Mary. 1996, color illustrations by Rhian Brynjolson.

How many times have you been hesitant to befriend people who are different from you? And how many of your relatives might appear unusual to someone who doesn’t know them?  What is it about the little old lady down the road that frightens the little boy? Told in the first person, this is a gentle tale of the growing friendship between “Red Parka Mary” and “Mister.”
pb 11.00

Fawcett, Melissa Jayne (Mohegan), and Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki), Makiawisug: The Gift of the Little People. 1997, color illustrations by David Wagner.

This is a beautifully told, beautifully illustrated traditional Mohegan story about why it's important to honor the Little People: “Gladys Tantaquidgeon told me this story and I am telling it to you. One day, you too, may see a Little Person. If you do, remember not to stare at them. Remember to leave them tiny baskets of gifts in the woods. If you follow these simple rules, then the Little People will protect you, grant your wishes and keep the earth safe and well.”
hc 20.00

Himango, Deanna (Ojibwe), Boozhoo, Come Play With Us. 2002, color photos by Rocky Wilkinson (Ojibwe).

“Boozhoo, Whitney. Boozhoo means hello. Boozhoo, Samanthia. Agindaaso means read. Boozhoo, Rebecca. Mazina’igan means book.” With Ojibwe words and color photographs of the Fond du Lac kids doing what little kids do, this beautiful board book will appeal to little kids everywhere.
hc 6.00

Jaakola, Lyz (Ojibwe), Our Journey. 2002, illustrated by Karen Savage-Blue (Ojibwe).

“Anin to the East, Anin to the South, Anin to the West, Anin to the North, Anin to the Sun, Anin to the Earth, Anin to the One who gave me my birth! Miigwech to the East, Miigwech to the South, Miigwech to the West, Miigwech to the North, Miigwech to the Sun, Miigwech to the Earth, Miigwech to the One who gave me my birth!” With rich, vibrant color paintings, this beautiful board book will encourage the youngest children to greet and thank all creation.
hc 6.00

Green, Richard G. (Mohawk), A Wundoa Book: I'm Number One! 1980, b/w illustrations.

Wundoa is the comic-strip adventures of a blind horse who used to be a polo pony before getting hit on the head with a polo mallet. Now he communicates telepathically with his human cohort, Kiyon. Wundoa is full of Indian humor, with wundoa-ful (aaayy!) word-plays, such as: “You know where this road goes?” “Yeah, it don’t go nowheres.”
pb 3.00

Harjo, Joy (Muscogee), The Good Luck Cat. 2000, color illustrations by Paul Lee.

Everybody knows that cats have nine lives, but not everybody knows that some cats are good luck. Woogie is a good luck cat, one in “millions and billions, a “stripedy cat with tickling whiskers and green electric eyes” who “purrs as if she has a drum near her heart.” But Woogie has already used up eight of her nine lives—does her disappearance mean her good luck has run out? Lee’s illustrations capture that essential “catness,” and the humor in situations that could have been disastrous. Joy Hargo is an accomplished poet, and this delightful picture book is pure poetry.
hc 17.00

Heath, Kristina (Mohican/Menominee), Mama's Little One. 1998, color illustrations by the author.

“Wake up, Little One! It is a new day. Your Noh is going hunting today and you will go with him...” In Mohican tradition, the head of the family wakes the children each morning and teaches them the ways to please the Great, Good Spirit. Heath created this book for her own children and for all the children in the Mohican Nation, to teach them traditional values and also to renew something of what has been taught for millennia.
pb 10.00

Kennard, Edward A., Field Mouse Goes to War/Tusan Homichi Tuwvota. Hopi text by Albert Yava (Hopi). (1944), 1977, b/w illustrations by Fred Kabotie (Hopi).

Originally published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this is the story of how a tiny field mouse who lives at the edege of the village makes great preparations to save the chickens of the people at Mishongnovi from their enemy, the hawk. With Hopi text alongside the English and black-and-white illustrations by the young Fred Kabotie, this little story demonstrates that size does not always equal power.
pb 9.00

King, Thomas (Cherokee), Coyote Sings to the Moon. 1998, color illustrations.

It was long ago, before the animals stopped talking to the humans. Coyote wants to join Old Woman and the animals in singing to the moon. But, insulted by the animals (something about his atrocious singing voice), he in turn insults Moon, who packs her bags, slides out of the sky, dives down into the pond and plays chess with the sunfish—leaving everyone in the dark. So Old Woman and the animals try to get her back up to the sky. So of course Coyote—who keeps crashing into things, including a skunk—wants to help again. So Old Woman hatches a plan. Stick around. Big fun is going to happen now, I can tell you that. Caveat: This is not anyone’s traditional story.  Tom King made it all up.
hc 16.00, pb 10.00