Indigenous #KidLitWomen

My contribution to the month-long #KidLitWomen campaign is to lift Indigenous women who have written books for children and teens.

If we were sitting in a classroom or a lecture hall, I'd ask you to name a picture book about a Native woman or girl. Chances are most of you would name a book by Paul Goble or Scott O'Dell. I drew a line through their names to tell you... NO! Not books by those guys! Inside, I'd be cringing to hear you give me those answers. And I'd explain that books by those men have many many many many (how many times shall I write that word?!) problems.

My solution-oriented challenge for you, for the #KidLitWomen campaign is this: Next time you're at the bookstore, reach for books written by Indigenous women. And ask for them at the library! And if your children bring that Goble or that O'Dell book home, arrange a meeting with the teacher to talk about books by Indigenous Women.

Here's my list. Take it with you to the book store, to the library... to your next book club meeting!

Board Books

• Wild Berries by Julie Flett (Cree-Métis), Simply Read Books, 2013.
• Boozhoo: Come Play With Us by Deanna Himango (Ojibwe), Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior, Chippewa, 2002.
• My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith (Cree, Lakota and Scottish), Orca, 2016.

Picture Books

• Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell (Nle7kepmx, Nsilx and Métis), Groundwood Books, 2005.
• The Good Luck Cat by Joy Harjo (Mvskoke), Harcourt Brace, 2000.
• Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk (Inuit), Inhabit Media, Incorporated, 2014.
• Powwow Summer: A Family Celebrates the Circle of Life by Marcie Rendon (White Earth Anishinaabe), Minnesota Historical Society, 2013.
• Girls Dance, Boys Fiddle by Carole Lindstrom (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians), Pemmican, 2013.
• Hungry Johnny by Cheryl Minnema (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014.
• The Water Walker by Joanne Robertson (Ojibwe), Orca, 2017.
• Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek), Morrow, 2000.

Middle Grades

• I Am Not A Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis (Nipissing), Second Story, 2016.
• The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), Hyperion, 1999.
• Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee (Creek), HarperCollins, 2002.
• Super Indian, Vol. One and Vol. Two, by Arigon Starr (Kickapoo), Wacky Productions, 2012.

High School

• #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women edited By Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale, Annick Press, 2017.
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Georgian Bay Métis), Dancing Cat, 2017.
• Murder on the Red River by Marcie Rendon, (White Earth Anishinaabe), Cinco Puntos, 2017.
• The Round House by Louise Erdrich, (Turtle Mountain Chippewa). Harper, 2012.

Coming in 2018 and 2019…

• The Summer of Split Feather Fever by Christine Day (Upper Skagit), HarperCollins.
• Apple In the Middle by Dawn Quigley (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), North Dakota State University Press.
• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci L. Sorell (Cherokee), Charlesbridge.
• Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek), Candlewick.