Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nations

K-12 titles to share to help readers get to know Native people and their nations.

“Look for opportunities to share these stories throughout the year and include their use across the curriculum to help readers get to know Native people and their nations.

Find more guidance on choosing and sharing children’s books about Native Americans from NEA’s Read Across America partner, Coloring Colorado.

PICTURE BOOKS AND ELEMENTARY

A Boy Called Slow: The True Story of Sitting Bull by Joseph Bruchac; illustrated by Rocco Baviera

Caribou Song by Tomson Highway; illustrated by John Rombough

A Day with Yayah by Nicola I. Campbell; illustrated by Julie Flett

At the Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorell; illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre

Bowwow Powwow / Bagosenjige-niimi’idim by Brenda Child; illustrated by Jonathan Thunder

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker’s Story by Joseph Bruchac

Chukfi Rabbit’s Big, Bad Bellyache: a Trickster Tale by Greg Rodgers

Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series by Traci Sorell; illustrated by Arigon Starr

A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King; illustrated by William Kent Monkman

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard

Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp; illustrated by Erwin Printup, Jr.

Hungry Johnny by Cheryl Minnema; illustrated by Wesley Ballinger

The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations by Alootook Ipellie and David MacDonald

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich-Smith and Ying Hwa-Hu; illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright

Mayeros: A Yucatec Maya Family by George Ancona

Mission to Space by John Herrington

Muskrat Will Be Swimming by Cheryl Savageau; illustrated by Robert Hynes

The People Shall Continue by Simon J. Ortiz; illustrated by Sharol Graves

Rock & Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson Story by Sebastian Robertson; illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Salmon Summer by Bruce McMillan

Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light by Tim Tingle; illustrated by Karen Clarkson

The Sea in Winter by Christine Day

Shin-Chi’s Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell; illustrated by Kim LaFave

Skysisters by Jan Bourdeau Waboose; illustrated by Brian Deines

Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk; illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis

Tallchief America’s Prima Ballerina by Maria Tallchief, with Rosemary Wells; illustrated by Gary Kelley

Thanku: Poems of Gratitude by Miranda Paul; illustrated by Marlena Myles

We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorrell; illustrated by Frané Lessac

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorrell; illustrated by Frané Lessac

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade

Wild Berries by Julie Flett

When the Shadbush Blooms by Carla J.S. Messinger and Susan Katz; illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden

MIDDLE GRADE

Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

Fatty Legs: A True Story by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton; illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes

Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young

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

I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III

Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock & Edward Kay

Rain Is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

Talking Leaves by Joseph Bruchac

YOUNG ADULT

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac

Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith

Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided by Walter R. Echo-Hawk

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese

Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers; illustrated by Jeff Edwards

#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (editors)”

Credit..(NEA)