Highly Recommended! "Seasons of Alaska" board books from Best Beginnings Alaska

Let's Play Out! by Yaari Toolie-Walker

Button Up! by Angela Y. Gonzales

Mittens and Mukluks! by Joni Spiess

Bye-Bye Ice! by Carla Snow

Published by Best Beginnings Alaska in 2020

Reviewed by Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

With delight, I'm here today to tell you about four board books that came out in 2020 from Best Beginnings Alaska. The four books are about the seasons. I'm sharing them with you in December of 2020. So--I am starting with winter, by Joni Spiess (Inupiaq):

And here's spring, by Carla Snow (Yup'ik Upper):

Here is summertime, by Yaari Toolie-Walker (Siberian Yupik):

And here is fall, by Angela Y. Gonzales (Koyukon Athabascan):

This photograph is from "Athabaskan Woman" -- which is Angela Y. Gonzales's website. Go read her post! It has information about the book series: 

I adore these books! Of course, I'm going to add them to our Best Books of 2020 list!

The photographs of Alaska Native children doing things indoors and out that are specific to being an Alaska Native child--and doing the things that children do, no matter where they are, are heart-warming. As I read Mittens and Mukluks! I paused on the page that shows a child in a traditional coat that "Aana made for me." In smaller print is "Aana is Inupiaq for grandmother." I like seeing Native words in books, so that particular page is another reason I am so drawn to the books. 

And hey! Many children who receive books from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Alaska may already have them! How cool is that? Add them to your next book order.