A list of Recommended Indigenous Children’s Picture Books
Dr. Judith Scott and Donna Scott (4th-6th grade teacher)
November 2022
Since September contains California Native American Day, October has Indigenous People’s Day, and November is Native American Heritage Month, we thought it would be useful to compile a list of recommended books which are written by and about Indigenous communities for use in your classrooms. Please note that most of them would also lend themselves to discussions with students in older grades.
First, there is the picture book, When the Mission Bells Rang, written by Judy Scott and illustrated by Lydia Gibson, that highlights resistance and resilience when the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB) and related Indigenous people encountered the Spanish missionaries in the Monterey Bay. It is an imagined fable, with historically accurate endnotes. It is self-published in conjunction with the AMTB and all proceeds go to the AMTB. Please see our website https://whenthemissionbellsrang.weebly.com/#/ to obtain a free PDF or to purchase a hard copy of the the book.
As Donna and Judy are both enrolled members of the Cherokee Nation, several books in our list are written by and about the Cherokee people. We want to highlight two books in particular that you might find useful in November:
Sorell, Traci (2018) We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
Swamp, Chief Jake (1997) Giving thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message.
A list of Recommended Indigenous Children’s Picture Books
Bouchard, David (2003) The Elders are Watching.
Bouchard, David (2006) Nokum is my teacher.
Boughman, Arvis (2010). Chicora and the Little People: The Legend of Indian Corn, A Lumbee Tale
Bruchac, Joseph (2018) Chester Nez and the unbreakable code: A Navajo code talker’s story
Bruchac, Joseph (2003) How Chipmunk got his stripes
Bruchac, Joseph (1998) The first strawberries: A Cherokee story
Campbell, Nicola L. (2005). Shi-shi-etko
Coulson, Art. (2018). Unstoppable: How Jim Thorpe and the Carlise Indian School Football team defeated Army.
Flett, Julie (2014). We all count: A book of Cree Numbers.
Joe, Donna (2001) Salmon Boy: A legend of the Sechelt people
Joose, Barbara (1991) Mama do you love me?
Hunter, Sara (2007) The unbreakable code
Kalluk, Celina (2016) Sweetest Lulu
Kinew, Wab (2018) Go show the world: A celebration of Indigenous Heroes
Maillard, Kevin Noble (2019) Fry Bread: A Native American family story
Robertson, David (2016) When we were alone.
Ross, Gayle (1995) How turtle’s back was cracked: A traditional Cherokee tale
Rumford, James (2008). Sequoyah: The Cherokee man who gave his people writing.
Smith, Cynthia Leitich (2021) Ancestor approved: Intertribal stories for kids.
Smith, Cynthia Leitich (2020) Indian Shoes
Smith, Cynthia Leitich (2001) Jingle Dancer
Sorell, Traci (2018) We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
Sorell, Traci (2019). At the mountain’s base.
Swamp, Chief Jake (1997) Giving thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message.
Tudor, Aslan and Kelly. (2018) Young Water Protectors: A story about Standing Rock
Waboose, Jan (2002) Skysisters