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RECOMMENDED AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Adapted from a List Compiled by Rose Marie Johnson & Rose M. McGuire, Denver Public Schools, July 2006

Book Title	Author	Grade Level	Tribe	Genre	Possible Teaching Points	Question/Discussion Points	Overview
Where Did You Get Your Moccasins?	Wheeler	PK-K	Cree	Contemporary Fiction	Retell, sequencing	Compare/contrast moccasins, sneakers. Feelings when someone does something special for you	Boy tells, in detail, how his Kookum made his moccasins
Two Pairs of Shoes	Sanderson	PK-1	Cree	Contemporary Fiction	Comp/cont with WDYGY Moccasins	Bicultural/Living In Two Worlds	Today is a special day for Maggie, for she has been given two pairs of shoes—moccasins and patent leather. As a child of two worlds, she must now "remember when and how to wear each pair."
The Goodluck Cat	Lee	K-3	American Indian	Contemporary Fiction	Good use of descriptive vocabulary	Losing something precious, hope	Excellent for integrating AI culture into a contemporary setting. Emphasis on universal story, not culture
Lacrosse	Hoyt-Goldsmith	4-7	Iroquois	Non-fiction	Organization		Three generations of lacrosse players are featured. Discusses lacrosse as a game, a sport, and a part of Iroquois culture
Great Ball Game	Bruchac	K-3	Muskogee	Fiction	Character development		An athletic game is used to settle a dispute—and thereby avoiding fighting
Red is Beautiful	Nizhoni	K-3	Navajo	Non-Fiction/Bio	Problem/Solution	Solutions to teasing, discrimination aren�t always immediate	Nashasha is teased unmercifully by her classmates. Called Chiizhii, �the girl with the rough skin
Alice Yazzie�s Year	Maher	4-6	Navajo	Poetry	Word choice	Good for Writer�s Workshop—personal reflections	Picture book for older readers told in verse. Follows 11-year-old Alice through a reservation year
Ledger Book of Thomas Blue Eagle	Grutman	3-5	Sioux	Historical fiction	Diary, personal narrative	Racism, forced assimilation, cultural conflict	9-year-old boy forced to attend government boarding school
Boy Called Slow	Bruchac	K-4	Sioux	Biography	Organization	Nicknames might reflect outward behavior but not actual strength. Slow as reflective, which made him a great leader	Biography of Sitting Bull
Dog People	Bruchac	3-6	Abenaki	Fiction	Problem/solution	Using wit to survive the dangers of the natural world	Five highly readable tales of Abenaki Indian children and their dogs.
Range Eternal	Erdich	K-4		Contemporary Fiction	Word choice	Family traditions	The wood stove was the true heart of the home—one the young girl never knew how much she would miss until it was gone.
Tall Chief	Tall Chief	2-4	Cherokee	Biography	Metaphor	Career	Childhood of Marie Tallchief, ballerina
Jingle Dancer	Smith	K-3	American Indian	Contemporary Fiction	Problem/solution	What is important in your life	There�s not enough time to mail-order tins to make the cone-shaped jingles so that Jenna can dance at the next powwow.
Death of the Iron Horse	Goble	K-6	Cheyenne	Historical fiction	Word choice	Alternate perspectives	Cheyenne�s sole victory over the encroaching whites whose railroads �tear open our Mother, the earth
People Shall Continue	Ortiz	3-6	American Indian	Poetry	Rhythm	Greed and misunderstanding	Compact & sobering overview of American Indian history
Circle of Thanks	Bruchac	1-5	American Indian	Poetry	Poetry		Traditional Native American poems of appreciation & respect for nature�s gifts
Seasons of the Circle	Bruchac	2-5	American Indian	Poetry	Poetry		Traditional Native American poems of appreciation & respect for Nature�s gifts
Crazy Horse�s Vision	Bruchac	K-5	Lakota	Biography	Character development & Inference	Battle of Little Big Horn	Crazy Horse�s boyhood, zeroing in on a pivotal event in his life and highlighting an important rite of passage
Songs of the Shiprock Fair	Tapahonso	2-4	Navajo	Poetry	Sequencing, organization	Celebrations, fairs	Seen through the eyes of Nezbah, a young Navajo girl, the Shiprock Fair is a magical time with family and friends
Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails	Kusugak	K-3	Canadian Indian	Fiction	Word choice	Losing a parent, death	Kataujak�s grandmother tells her that the thousands of thin strands of light moving about in the northern lights above them are really the souls of those that have passed on, playing soccer with a huge, frozen walrus head
Pushing Up the Sky	Bruchac	4-6	American Indian	Fiction/Readers Theatre	Fluency	Legends	Traditional tales from several Tribes
Cheyenne Again	Bunting	1-4	Cheyenne	Fiction	Rhythm	Coping skills, government boarding schools, compare & contrast schools	In late 1880�s a Cheyenne boy is taken to a boarding school to learn the white man�s ways
We Are the Many	Rappaport	4-7	American Indian	Biographies	Organization	Contributions of Indians	Biographies of 13 famous Indians
As Long as the River Flows	Loyle	4-8	Cree	Biography	Sequence/organization	Government policy to remove Indian children from their homes. Compare/contrast to foster care	A quiet but powerful first-person account of his last summer before he & his siblings were taken away from their family
Story of Jumping Mouse	Steptoe	2-6	American Indian	Fiction	Moral	Character building	The words of Magic Frog give courage to the young mouse on his long & perilous journey to reach the wonderful land of legend

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