These are recommended picture books, fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels for children for Native American Heritage Month.


All Around Us

Gonzalez, Xelena
Call Number: xz

Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale

McDermott, Gerald.
Call Number: x 398 M134-5

K – Gr. 4. An adaptation of the Pueblo Indian myth which explains how the spirit of the Lord of the Sun was brought to the world of men. Caldecott Award winner, 1975.

The Barren Grounds

Robertson, David
Call Number: x

The birchbark house

Erdrich, Louise.
Call Number: x

Gr. 2-5. Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.

Birdsong

Flett, Julie
Call Number: xz

Blue Jay Girl

Ross, Sylvia, 1937-
Call Number: x

Gr. 2 – 5. In long-ago California in the area populated by the various tribes of the Yokuts group, a young Yaudanchi girl who is troubled because of her impetuous nature turns to the tribe's shaman for advice on how to be less like a blue jay and more like a quail. Includes a glossary and facts about the Indians of the Tule River Indian Reservation.

Bowwow Powwow: bagosenjige-niimi'idim

Child, Brenda J.
Call Number: xz

Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story

Nelson, S. D.
Call Number: x 970 N4297

K – Gr. 3. Traces the childhood, friendships and dangers experienced by Buffalo Bird Woman, a Hidatsa Indian born in 1839, whose community along the Missouri River in the Dakotas transitioned from hunting to agriculture.

The Christmas coat : memories of my Sioux childhood

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk.
Call Number: xz

Gr. K – 3. Virginia and her brother are never allowed to pick first from the donation boxes at church because their father is the priest, and she is heartbroken when another girl gets the beautiful coat that she covets. Based on the author's memories of life on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

Chukfi Rabbit's Big, Bad Bellyache: A Trickster Tale

Rodgers, Greg.
Call Number: x 398 R691

K – Gr. 3. Bear, Turtle, Fox, and Beaver agree to build Ms. Possum a new house, but Chukfi Rabbit says he is too busy to help until he hears there will be a Chocktaw feast afterwards and helps himself to a treat while the work is being done.

Cowboy up! : ride the Navajo rodeo

Flood, Bo.
Call Number: x 970 F631

Gr. 1 – 5. Text and photographs present a close-up view at a Navajo rodeo.

Crazy Horse's vision

Bruchac, Joseph, 1942-
Call Number: xz

Gr. K – 3. A story based on the life of the dedicated young Lakota boy who grew up to be one of the bravest defenders of his people. 

"Fall in Line, Holden!"

Vandever, Daniel W
Call Number: xz

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Maillard, Kevin Noble
Call Number: xz

Ghost Hawk

Cooper, Susan, 1935-
Call Number: x

Gr. 4 & up. At the end of a winter-long journey into manhood, Little Hawk returns to find his village decimated by a white man's plague and soon, despite a fresh start, Little Hawk dies violently but his spirit remains trapped, seeing how his world changes.

How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story

Tingle, Tim.
Call Number: x

Gr. 5 & up. A Choctaw boy tells the story of his tribe's removal from the only land its people had ever known, and how their journey to Oklahoma led him to become a ghost--one with the ability to help those he left behind. 

Indian no More

McManis, Charlene Willing
Call Number: x

Jingle Dancer

Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Call Number: xz

Gr. K – 3. Jenna, a member of the Muscogee, or Creek, Nation, borrows jingles from the dresses of several friends and relatives so that she can perform the jingle dance at the powwow. Includes a note about the jingle dance tradition and its regalia. 

Molly of Denali: Crane Song

Johnson, Princess Daazhraii
Call Number: xz IR

Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman

Davids, Sharice
Call Number: x 92 D251

Sisters of the Neversea

Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Call Number: x

Swift Fox All Along

Thomas, Rebecca
Call Number: xz

Trickster: Native American tales: a graphic collection

Call Number: x GN

Gr. 5 & up. More than twenty Native American tales, cleverly adapted into comic form.

We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

Sorell, Traci
Call Number: xz

We Are Water Protectors

Lindstrom, Carole
Call Number: e-Book

Weaving a California tradition : a Native American basketmaker

Yamane, Linda.
Call Number: x 970 Y19

Gr. 3 – 6. Follows an eleven-year-old Western Mono Indian, as she and her relatives prepare materials needed for basketweaving, make the baskets, and attend the California Indian Basketweavers Association's annual gathering.