Highly Recommended: NAVAJO CODE TALKERS by Danielle C. Burbank

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Navajo Code Talkers

Written by Danielle C. Burbank (Diné)

Published in 2024

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

I love that Danielle C. Burbank (Diné) opens her book, Navajo Code Talkers, with the word Yá'át'ééh! It signals that we're going to learn about the Code Talkers from someone for whom this is not a subject. Instead, it is her family's life.

On that first page, she tells us her grandfather served as a Code Talker in the US Marines, that the Navajos refer to themselves as Diné (it means "the People"), and that readers will learn about Diné culture, language, and lifeways. 

At the bottom of that page is a photo of Burbank and her grandfather, Deswood R. Johnson, Sr. 

Later, you'll see photos of her daughter and her great grandmother. What we are fortunate to have in this book, is information rooted in her family, her tribal nation, and its history. Earlier this week I wrote about Olympic Gold Medal winner Billy Mills, and that in his book, he tells us that his Native ancestors didn't give up when odds were against them. Their steadfast way mattered to Billy Mills. I see that 'didn't give up' attitude throughout Navajo Code Talkers. 

Because this book is from an insider's perspective, we learn about how Diné culture shapes their way of being in the world and how it shaped how the Code Talkers became who they are and how they persevere when odds are against them. Burbank tells us about kinship and how that mattered, and matters. 

She introduces us to several Diné Code Talkers and their experiences with, for example, boarding school. On page 23, we meet Samuel Tom Holiday, who talks about his older brother, Henry, and how Henry helped Samuel prepare for boarding school. Teachers who are providing students with information about boarding schools will find his story compelling. 

I particularly like the photo on page 10, showing Diné school children reading a signpost at Dream Diné School in Shiprock, New Mexico. Words on the signpost are in their language. Each one points to their sacred mountains. But, as I read on, I find that Burbank does an excellent job of making readers understand that the Code Talkers are not simply a group of Marines. She humanizes them--pulling them from mythical status as vital to a war effort--to a place of knowing them as parents and grandparents whose parents and grandparents had been through a lot, and persevered. 

There's a lot in this book meant for fourth and fifth graders that most people haven't learned. By that, I mean people should read it, regardless of age. You can order it directly from the publisher. I got an e-copy for a few dollars. 

I'm grateful to Burbank for all she did to make this book available to all of us, Native or not. Others are, too. Her nation's library hosted her for a reading a few days ago. And take time to read Diné author writes Navajo Code Talkers book for elementary school readers in Source NM.