Let’s celebrate and honor Native American culture.
Here are a few awesome books and crafts to share with your kiddos!
• Books and Activities •
Read
About the Book
Remember the sky you were born under,
Know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn,
That is the strongest point of time.
So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging and accessible way.
This timeless poem paired with magnificent paintings makes for a picture book that is a true celebration of life and our human role within it.
MAKE A Native Plant Walk Collage from Nature Into Action
READ
About the Book
Criss Cross & Memory Match PUZZLES, Word Searches, and MORE
from Reading Is Fundamental!
READ
About the Book
Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption—a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all . . .
When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth
And poison her people’s water, one young water protector
Takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.
DOWNLOAD Activity kit
READ
About the Book
When We Are Kind celebrates simple acts of everyday kindness and encourages children to explore how they feel when they initiate and receive acts of kindness in their lives. Celebrated author Monique Gray Smith has written many books on the topics of resilience and reconciliation and communicates an important message through carefully chosen words for readers of all ages. Beautifully illustrated by artist Nicole Neidhardt, this book encourages children to be kind to others and to themselves.
DOWNLOAD When We Are Kind Activity Sheet
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About the Book
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 and Caldecott Honoree 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.
Download the Recipe for Fry Bread HERE!
How to Make Traditional Navajo Frybread: Native American frybread is a relatively recent addition to North American cuisine. Every North American indigenous tribe has their own story of how frybread or bannock came to be in their oral traditions. Native people themselves have published stories, songs, and poetry about their family’s frybread in all waves of the modern Native American Renaissance. –wikiHow
READ
About the Book
Criss Cross & Memory Match PUZZLES, Word Searches, and MORE
from Reading Is Fundamental!
READ
About the Book
In THANKS TO THE ANIMALS, by Allen Sockabasin, Little Zoo Sap and his family are moving from their summer home on the coast to the deep woods for the winter, traveling on a big bobsled pulled by big horses. When Zoo Sap falls off of the sled unnoticed, the forest animals hear his cries and come to shelter him—everyone from the tiny mouse to the giant moose to the great bald eagle—keeping him warm and safe until his father comes back to find him.
Check out Book Activities from Tilbury House!
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About the Book
Windy Girl is blessed with a vivid imagination. From Uncle she gathers stories of long-ago traditions, about dances and sharing and gratitude. Windy can tell such stories herself—about her dog, Itchy Boy, and the way he dances to request a treat and how he wriggles with joy in response to, well, just about everything.
When Uncle and Windy Girl and Itchy Boy attend a powwow, Windy watches the dancers and listens to the singers. She eats tasty food and joins family and friends around the campfire. Later, Windy falls asleep under the stars. Now Uncle’s stories inspire other visions in her head: a bowwow powwow, where all the dancers are dogs. In these magical scenes, Windy sees veterans in a Grand Entry, and a visiting drum group, and traditional dancers, grass dancers, and jingle-dress dancers—all with telltale ears and paws and tails. All celebrating in song and dance. All attesting to the wonder of the powwow.
This playful story by Brenda Child is accompanied by a companion retelling in Ojibwe by Gordon Jourdain and brought to life by Jonathan Thunder’s vibrant dreamscapes. The result is a powwow tale for the ages.
Download these coloring sheets created by illustrator, Jonathan Thunder!
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American Indian Youth Literature Award
Click HERE for a list of this year’s AILA American Indian Youth Literature Awards winners and honor books from
the American Indian Library Association!
MEGAN CAHILL-ASSENZA – is from Northport, NY, and a recent Children’s Literature Fellow from Stony Brook University. A writer, filmmaker, and animal lover, Megan is pursuing a career in children’s literature. She currently works in the Academic Tutoring Center at Suffolk County Community College.
Wow these books and kits look great!