Kids

Istas, a young Chippewa girl, is learning to do all the things her mother does. The thing she likes to do most is to sing the songs she has learned from her mother. Her family has a different home for each season of the year. In the fall, her mother is lost. No one can find her. What can Istas do to help her mother? Book jacket.

Don't miss the companion book, Set Me Free

CRITICS ARE RAVING ABOUT SHOW ME A SIGN

Winner of the 2021 Schneider Family Book Award * NPR Best Books of 2020 * Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2020 * School Library Journal Best Books of 2020 * New York Public Library Best Books of 2020 * Chicago Public Library Best Books of 2020 * 2020 Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist * 2020 New England Independent Booksellers Award Finalist

Deaf author Ann Clare LeZotte weaves a riveting story inspired by the true history of a thriving deaf community on Martha's Vineyard in the early 19th century. This piercing exploration of ableism, racism, and colonialism will inspire readers to examine core beliefs and question what is considered normal.

* "A must-read." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"More than just a page-turner. Well researched and spare... sensitive... relevant." -- Newbery Medalist, Meg Medina for the New York Times

"A triumph." -- Brian Selznick, creator of Wonderstruck and the Caldecott Award winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret

* "Will enthrall readers, but her internal journey...profound." -- The Horn Book, starred review

* "Expertly crafted...exceptionally written." -- School Library Journal, starred review

* "Engrossing." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This book blew me away." -- Alex Gino, Stonewall Award-winning author of George

"Spend time in Mary's world. You'll be better for it." -- Erin Entrada Kelly, author of the Newbery Award Winner, Hello, Universe

Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard. Her great-great-grandfather was an early English settler and the first deaf islander. Now, over a hundred years later, many people there -- including Mary -- are deaf, and nearly everyone can communicate in sign language. Mary has never felt isolated. She is proud of her lineage.

But recent events have delivered winds of change. Mary's brother died, leaving her family shattered. Tensions over land disputes are mounting between English settlers and the Wampanoag people. And a cunning young scientist has arrived, hoping to discover the origin of the island's prevalent deafness. His maniacal drive to find answers soon renders Mary a "live specimen" in a cruel experiment. Her struggle to save herself is at the core of this penetrating and poignant novel that probes our perceptions of ability and disability.

In this evocative and heartwarming novel for readers who loved The Thing About Jellyfish, the author of I Can Make This Promise tells the story of a Native American girl struggling to find her joy again.

It's been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions.

Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can't understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she's dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up.

But soon, Maisie's anxieties and dark moods start to hurt as much as the pain in her knee. How can she keep pretending to be strong when on the inside she feels as roiling and cold as the ocean?

The Heartdrum imprint centers a wide range of intertribal voices, visions, and stories while welcoming all young readers, with an emphasis on the present and future of Indian Country and on the strength of young Native heroes. In partnership with We Need Diverse Books.

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.

The Hopi village of Oraibi was settled around AD 1050, making it the oldest continuously inhabited village in the United States. The Hopi had to be a resilient people to survive in the hot deserts of the Southwest. Today, people are captivated with Hopi culture, which has endured despite years of forced assimilation. Historic photographs and descriptive text aid readers in entering the world of the traditional Hopi, with spotlights on ceremonies, rituals, housing, and fashion. Hopi history and modern life further make this volume a valuable addition to any social studies collection.

Twelve Native American kids present historical and contemporary laws, policies, struggles, and victories in Native life, each with a powerful refrain: We are still here!
 
An ideal nonfiction picture book for 7-10-year-old future activists and changemakers! An inspiring read by best-selling and award-winning Cherokee author Traci Sorell.
 
Too often, Native American history is treated as a finished chapter instead of relevant and ongoing. This companion book to the award-winning We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga offers readers everything they never learned in school about Native American people's past, present, and future. 

Precise, lyrical writing presents topics including: 

• Assimilation
• Allotment
• Termination
• Relocation
• Economic Development
• Language Revival
• Sovereign Resurgence
• and more
   

Best-selling Cherokee author Traci Sorell has a Native rights advocacy background, and is active in both her tribal community as well as the broader Native American community. We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know is sure to educate and inspire both Native and non-Native readers.

A 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Book
A 2022 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

In this Wampanoag story told in a Native tradition, two kids from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe learn the story of Weeâchumun (corn) and the first Thanksgiving.

A beautiful new classic perfect for fall. Written and illustrated by four Indigenous creators, this picture book for 3-7-year-olds is about the first Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective—reshaping the story and perhaps questioning how the United States sees itself.

The Thanksgiving story that most Americans know celebrates the Pilgrims. But without members of the Wampanoag tribe who already lived on the land, the Pilgrims would never have made it through their first winter. And without Weeâchumun (corn), the Native people wouldn't have helped.

Written by Danielle Greendeer (Mashpee Wampanoag), Anthony Perry (Chickasaw), Alexis Bunten (Unangan/Yup’ik) and beautifully illustrated by Garry Meeches Sr. (Anishinaabe), Keepunumuk is an important picture book honoring both the history and tradition that surrounds the story of the first Thanksgiving.

River is recovering from illness and can't dance at the powwow this year. Will she ever dance again?

A heartwarming and hopeful contemporary Native American picture book for ages 4-8-year-olds about traditions, community, music, and healing, written and illustrated by Indigenous creators.

It's powwow day, and River wants so badly to dance as she does every year. But she can't dance this year as she deals with a serious illness.

In this modern and inspiring Native picture book that's perfect for beginning readers, follow River's journey from feeling isolated after an illness to learning the healing power of community.

Additional information explains the history and functions of powwows, which are commonplace across the United States and Canada and are open to both Native Americans and non-Native visitors. Best-selling and award-winning author Traci Sorell is a member of the Cherokee Nation, and illustrator Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation.

Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner

“A wonderful and sweet book . . . Lovely stuff.” —The New York Times Book Review

Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Juana Martinez-Neal.

Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.

A 2020 Charlotte Huck Recommended Book
A Publishers Weekly Best Picture Book of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2019
A School Library Journal Best Picture Book of 2019
A Booklist 2019 Editor's Choice
A Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of 2019
A Goodreads Choice Award 2019 Semifinalist
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2019
A National Public Radio (NPR) Best Book of 2019
An NCTE Notable Poetry Book
A 2020 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
A 2020 ALA Notable Children's Book
A 2020 ILA Notable Book for a Global Society
2020 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year List
One of NPR's 100 Favorite Books for Young Readers
Nominee, Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award 2022-2022
Nominee, Illinois Monarch Award 2022

Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal
#1 New York Times Bestseller

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption—a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.

Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all . . .

When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth
And poison her people’s water, one young water protector
Takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.