Uplift Native and Indigenous Voices
Perfect for Indigenous People’s Day, Native American Heritage Month, and all year long, these books celebrate the rich and diverse cultures, traditions, histories, and important contributions of Native people.
This Land By Ashley Fairbanks; illustrated by Bridget George
This land is your land now, but who was here before? This engaging primer about native lands invites kids to trace history and explore their communities.
Before my family lived in this house, a different family did, and before them, another family, and another before them. And before that, the family lived here, not in a house, but a wigwam. Who lived where you are before you got there?
This Land teaches readers that American land, from our backyards to our schools to Disney World, are the traditional homelands of many Indigenous nations. This Land will spark curiosity and encourage readers to explore the history of the places they live and the people who have lived there throughout time and today.
Colonization and the Wampanoag Story By Linda Coombs
Until now, you've only heard one side of the story: the "discovery" of America told by Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, and the Colonists. Here's the true story of America from the Indigenous perspective.
When you think about the beginning of the American story, what comes to mind? Three ships in 1492, or perhaps buckled hats and shoes stepping off of the Mayflower, ready to start a new country. But the truth is, Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, and the Colonists didn't arrive to a vast, empty land ready to be developed. They arrived to find people and communities living in harmony with the land they had inhabited for thousands of years, and they quickly disrupted everything they saw.
From its "discovery" by Europeans to the first Thanksgiving, the story of America's earliest days has been carefully misrepresented. Told from the perspective of the New England Indigenous Nations that these outsiders found when they arrived, this is the true story of how America as we know it today began.
The Water Lady By Alice B. McGinty; illustrated by Shonto Begay
This inspiring picture book tells the true story of a woman who brings desperately needed water to families on the Navajo reservation every day.
Underneath the New Mexico sky, a Navajo boy named Cody finds that his family's barrels of water are empty. He checks the chicken coop-- nothing. He walks down the road to the horses' watering hole. Dry. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Darlene Arviso drives a school bus and picks up students for school. After dropping them off, she heads to another job: she drives her big yellow tanker truck to the water tower, fills it with three thousand gallons of water, and returns to the reservation, bringing water to Cody's family, and many, many others. Here is the incredible and inspiring true story of a Native American woman who continuously gives back to her community and celebrates her people.
Remember By Joy Harjo; illustrated by Michaela Goade
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER • AN AMERICAN INDIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HONOR BOOK • A BOSTON GLOBE–HORN BOOK HONOR AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY School Library Journal • Publishers Weekly • The Horn Book • NPR • The Bulletin • Kirkus Reviews
US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s iconic poem "Remember," illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around them, and to remember the importance of their place in it.
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.
The First Woman Cherokee Chief: Wilma Pearl Mankiller By Patricia Morris Buckley; illustrated by Aphelandra Messer
Find out all about Wilma Pearl Mankiller, the first woman Cherokee chief whose image appears on the U.S. quarter, in this Step 3 Biography Reader.
In 1985, Wilma Pearl Mankiller became the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She had to convince her people that the chief should be the best person for the job, man or woman.
Before the English came to what is now the United States, Cherokee women and men shared the leadership of the tribe. This created balance. But the English colonists told the Native People that men should be in charge.
It stayed that way for many years, until Wilma Pearl Mankiller made history. She used the concept of gaduji, of everyone helping each other, to make the Cherokee Nation strong.
Step 3 Readers feature engaging characters in easy-to-follow plots and popular topics—for children who are ready to read on their own.
