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


Book cover for All Around Us

All Around Us

Gonzalez, Xelena
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale

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.

Book cover for The Barren Grounds

The Barren Grounds

Robertson, David
Call Number: x
Book cover for The birchbark house

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.

Book cover for Birdsong

Birdsong

Flett, Julie
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Blue Jay Girl

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.

Book cover for Bowwow Powwow: bagosenjige-niimi'idim

Bowwow Powwow: bagosenjige-niimi'idim

Child, Brenda J.
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story

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.

Book cover for The Christmas coat : memories of my Sioux childhood

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.

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

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.

Book cover for Cowboy up! : ride the Navajo rodeo

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.

Book cover for Crazy Horse's vision

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. 

Book cover for Fall in Line, Holden!

"Fall in Line, Holden!"

Vandever, Daniel W
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Maillard, Kevin Noble
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Ghost Hawk

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.

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

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. 

Book cover for Indian no More

Indian no More

McManis, Charlene Willing
Call Number: x
Book cover for Jingle Dancer

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. 

Book cover for Molly of Denali: Crane Song

Molly of Denali: Crane Song

Johnson, Princess Daazhraii
Call Number: xz IR
Book cover for Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman

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

Davids, Sharice
Call Number: x 92 D251
Book cover for Sisters of the Neversea

Sisters of the Neversea

Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Call Number: x
Book cover for Swift Fox All Along

Swift Fox All Along

Thomas, Rebecca
Call Number: xz
Book cover for Trickster: Native American tales: a graphic collection

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.

Book cover for We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

Sorell, Traci
Call Number: xz
Book cover for We Are Water Protectors

We Are Water Protectors

Lindstrom, Carole
Call Number: e-Book
Book cover for Weaving a California tradition : a Native American basketmaker

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.