Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month: Books for Children

Discover new children's books by Indigenous authors to share with children all year round. Looking for more? Request a Personalized Reading List and we'll curate recommendations for your needs. 

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Alvarez, David

Ancient Night is a twist on two Nahuatl traditions: the rabbit which the Feathered Serpent placed on the moon, and Yaushu, the Lord Opossum who ruled the earth before humans came, and who stole fire from the gods to create the sun.

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Bowen Cohen, Emily

Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn't want to talk about him, but Mia can't help but feel like she's missing a part of herself without him in her life. Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma--without telling her mom--to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.

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Day, Christine

When twelve-year-old Edie finds letters and photographs in her attic that change everything she thought she knew about her Native American mother's adoption, she realizes she has a lot to learn about her family's history and her own identity.

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Flett, Julie

An extraordinary book that celebrates skateboarding, family, and community. Every day, a little boy watches kids pass by on skateboards, and dreams of joining them. One day, his mother brings a surprise: her old skateboard, just for him! haw êkwa! Let's go! Together, they practice on the sidewalk, at the park, in Auntie's yard--everywhere. But when it comes time to try the skatepark, the skateboarders crash down like a waterfall. Can he find the confidence to join them?

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George, Bridget

A colorful children's book written in a rhyming combination of English and Ojibwe. It's a Mitig! guides young readers through the forest while introducing them to Ojibwe words for nature. From sunup to sundown, encounter an amik playing with sticks and swimming in the river, a prickly gaag hiding in the bushes, and a big, bark-covered mitig.

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Goade, Michaela

As a young Tlingit girl collects wild berries over the seasons, she sings with her Grandmother as she learns to speak to the land and listen when the land speaks back.

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González, Xelena

A lyrical celebration of Indigenous and First Nations children, our cherished connection to the land, and our ancestral right to belong.

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Hartman Derr, Christine

Raven Miller only just moved to Bear Creek Falls, but she already hates it. There's a clique that has it out for her, a vice principal who keeps targeting her for dress code violations, and a cruel rumor going around that Raven is a witch who killed her parents. If it weren't for her new friends Laurel and Hazel, she'd be lost.

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Hurley, Kamalani

Discover the story of the smallest Hawaiian island, a place sacred to Native Hawaiians, from its formation long ago to its present-day restoration as a protected site. A remarkable narrative accompanied by stunning illustrations.

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Kelly, Masiana

Big or small, sweet or savoury, with stew or with sprinkles, there are tons of ways to enjoy bannock! This rhyming book explores a favourite Inuit food, and has some fun along the way. What's your favourite way to eat bannock? Try it at home with the included bannock recipe!

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Maunakea, Malia

Twelve-year-old Anna must dig deep into her Hawaiian roots in order to save her best friend and her island from an angry fire goddess.

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Medina, Belen

From the copper canyons of Mexico her swift footsteps echo. Clip clap, clip clap. Experience a 60-mile run with indigenous athlete Lorena Ramirez, who captured the world's attention when she won an ultramarathon in Mexico wearing a skirt and rubber sandals--the traditional clothes of the Rarámuri, 'the light-footed people.'

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Mukwa, Cameron

Ten-year-old Anang wants to make a ribbon skirt, a piece of clothing typically worn by women in the Anishinaabe tradition, for an upcoming powwow. Anang is two-spirit and nonbinary and doesn't know what others will think of them wearing a ribbon skirt, but they're determined to follow their heart's desire. Anang sets off to gather the materials needed to make the skirt and turns to those around them -- their family, their human and turtle friends, the crows, and even the lake itself -- for help. And maybe they'll even find a new confidence within themself along the way.

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Pawis-Steckley, Joshua Mangeshig

Meet a variety of woodland and water animals in this story written in Anishinaabemowin and English.

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Poll, Willie

Salmon have followed the same migration routes for thousands of years, but the rapid rise of the fish farming industry has had a deadly impact on their annual journey. The farms release harmful waste into the ocean that is lethal to the wild salmon forced to swim through it. Not only do salmon have to avoid predators like orcas, eagles, and seals, they must also face the human-made destruction of their habitat. Salmon are central to the lives of many Indigenous nations, who are taking forceful measures to protect the fish before they disappear.

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Rogers, Andrea L

Cynthia and her family have moved onto their grandfather's ranch in the hills of Oklahoma. There's any number of problems she can see with her new situation, but the main one is plain: Grandfather Wilson is not a good man. But with her sisters and her parents--and the opportunity to reconnect with her Cherokee heritage--it's at least manageable. Until a strange girl shows up on the ranch and Cynthia's life is changed forever. For she soon realizes that death lurks within the beautiful prairie grass around them...and a terrible secret that will tear their family apart if she lets it.

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Smith, Cynthia Leitich

Whether a grandma is mom's mom or dad's mom, a great-grandma, a foster grandma, or an honorary grandma, grandmothers bring a special kind of love wherever they go. Grandmas tell stories, teach skills, and make memories, and no community is complete without their helpful hands, loving presence, and good humor.

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Spillett, Tasha

A boy shares his dream of wearing a traditional ribbon skirt to the community's round dance with his grandmother.

Summaries provided by DPL's catalog unless otherwise noted. Click on each title to view more information.

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