Highly Recommended: Yáadilá! Good Grief! More to say about this wonderful book!

Back in January, I did a first-look 'highly recommended' post about Yáadilá!: Good Grief! I heaped praise on the way Laurel Goodluck and Jonathan Nelson presented the story. At the end of that post, I said I'd be back with more to say. So here we go! 

In that post, I was especially taken with "Helpful Narrator" -- a character that proclaims on the first very page -- that it will teach readers how to yáadilá using body language. Here's my photo of the first page:

 

See what I mean? Anytime you have felt frustrated, you may have crossed your arms, or put your hands on your hips, or shook your head, rolled your eyes, sighed, or shrugged your soldiers. All of those gestures are the embodiment of frustration. Helpful Narrator tells us how we can use our body to communicate that sense of yáadilá, or good grief. On the facing page, Helpful Narrator goes on to tell you how to say the word. Meanwhile, a significant character in the book comments on Helpful Narrator! I love every bit of this!

In Yáadilá!, that red box is an unseen but very present voice in the book. Why am I going on about this, you may wonder. Because I haven't seen anything like this before. Have you?

Goodluck and Nelson are reaching across a knowledge gap to help you, the person getting ready to read this book aloud, who probably doesn't know any Diné words. Many times when I recommend a Native-authored book, I ask you to flip to the back and read the author's note. The information Native writers share with you is vital. Most schools and universities don't teach what you find in those notes. But with this technique -- Helpful Narrator -- we see a new iteration of an author's note. And its a delight! 

Get the book and see what I mean. Here's the image I used with my first look. Highly recommended! 

Yáadilá! Good Grief! 

Written by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara)

Illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

Published in 2025

Publisher: Heartdrum (HarperCollins)

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

2024 American Indian Literature Award Medal Acceptance: Laurel Goodluck

Editors Note: On January 25, 2025, the American Indian Library Association (AILA) held its Youth Literature Award Ceremony in Phoenix. I am pleased to share the remarks Laurel Goodluck delivered when she received the American Indian Youth Literature Award in the picture book category for Forever Cousins. 

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Naomi Bishop (left) presenting Laurel Goodluck (right) with award for Forever Cousins

AIYLA Medal Acceptance Remarks

Laurel Goodluck

Greetings,

Dosha – Hello, friends. It’s wonderful to be spending the morning with you all. Writing a book for children is a privilege, a responsibility, and a lot of fun.

BUT…

I wasn’t one of those kids who said I wanted to be a writer, but I grew up with oral storytelling.

• My storytelling journey began with my family around the kitchen table in the SF Bay Area in California on weekends with my parents, uncles, aunties, grandmas, and cousins. The grown-ups told us stories of their adventures as children growing up in our homelands in North Dakota and Alaska. Stories of brown bears, gathering cedar bark, their father singing lullabies in Hidatsa and playing Stardust on the Sax, and trading horses for bikes with the town kids in Elbowoods.
• As cousins, these stories were adventures that we wanted to live up to. So, when we ventured home to North Dakota each summer, we were determined to have similar escapades and did. We jumped off logs in the lake, and when wild ponies wandered on our farm, we corralled them and played rodeo; we found rattlesnakes in the garden, and in solemn moments, we gathered around the tipi rings dotting the land and imagined our ancestors’ lives on the prairie.
• But the stories that were told around the kitchen table that later informed all of us cousins as adults were the stories about our chiefs and my grandfather, who was tribal chairman of Fort Berthold. My grandfather, Martin Old Dog Cross, bravely fought against the government to stop the Garrison Dam, which eventually flooded our ancestral lands. Martin would meet with Senators in Washington DC and proclaim, “There is no price for our land.”
• With this legacy of leadership through oral storytelling, I learned that these powerful stories offered keys to resilience. So, with a career in education and mental health and near retirement, I decided to write for children. I wanted to provide all the kids with what my family offered me through oral storytelling.

It began with FOREVER COUSINS.

• It is a story of my family and many families who experienced the Indian Relocation Act. Who knew a picture book format could offer all of this? I didn’t initially; this was my first attempt at a picture book. I soon discovered I could tell a universal story of love and friendship between cousins with all the beauty of our Native culture sprinkled through the story as organically as we live. And the back matter, the author’s note could express my need to tell the untold history and tribal and native cultural relevance. It also began with a lovely team of allies.
• I found Debbie Reese on social media. I Instant Messaged her and asked her many questions. She directed me to Tracy Sorell, who spent over an hour on the phone with me, passing on her wisdom. Later, Traci and I were paired together as mentors and mentees through WNDB (We Need Diverse Books), and everything began to change. 
• Tracy introduced me to freelance editor Karen Boss, who was patient and professional and helped me edit Forever Cousins. Then she said, “I don’t say this to everyone; I’d like you to submit this to Charlesbridge.”
• At the same time, I met Nicole Geiger, agent extraordinaire with Full Circle Literary Agency. I knew I wanted to be with this agency, which supported diverse creatives in children’s literature for decades.
• My community expanded through the Kweli Children of Color Conference with Laura Pegram’s leadership, Native writing intensives sponsored by Heartdrum and WNDB with editor Rosemary Brosnan and Cynthia Leitich Smith, Highlights Native retreats with Tracy Sorell, and international online Native writing critique groups. We are a solid Native community of support and a soft nest to retreat to.

Closing

• So, Forever Cousins was created with this circle of support and belief. And with a talented illustrator, Jonathan Nelson, who made the beautiful, vibrant, and playful art. I will forever be grateful to these allies and the community we continue to grow and nurture with many unique tribal voices and needed stories.
• Thank you, American Indian Library Association, for this honor of best picture book, which I’m thrilled to share with Andrea Rogers and her brilliant story.
• And last, I thank my family, who offered stories that run as deep as the tipi rings still outlined on our prairie.

Thank you, Native writers who gave us books about Secretary Deb Haaland!

As Deb Haaland finishes her term as Secretary of the Interior, I am grateful to her for initiatives she took up during her four years working for President Joe Biden. The work she did made a difference! More people know about boarding schools because of her. Across the country, place names changed from the derogatory "squaw" to names that do not denigrate people--and more people understand why those name changes are necessary.  

Because of the work I do as an advocate for children's books that accurately reflect Native people, I am taking a moment to thank the Native writers who wrote books about her. I hope every school library in the country has them. If not, put an order in right away! 

Highly Recommended! A first look at Yáadilá!: Good Grief!, Written by Laurel Goodluck; illustrated by Jonathan Nelson

Yáadilá! Good Grief! 

Written by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara)

Illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

Published in 2025

Publisher: Heartdrum (HarperCollins)

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

Back in 2016 I read a comic called The Wool of Jonesy -- and I loved it. Since then I've followed Jonathan Nelson's work. Again and again, his words and art are precisely what I want Native kids to have. Then in 2022, I read Laurel Goodluck's Forever Cousins. Her storytelling hits me like Jonathan's does. Her books are the ones I want all Native kids to have. He did the illustrations for Forever Cousins. If you've participated in webinars I do online, you know that I talk about their book a lot. And now, they're partnered up again in Yáadilá! Good Grief! 

Imagine me opening Yáadilá! Good Grief! Then imagine my smile as I see the sheep in the endpaper art! Something about Nelson's illustrations of sheep appeals to me in ways I can't explain. There aren't any on the cover (shown above) but sheep are a significant part of the story Goodluck and Nelson give to us. On the cover, you see a family (a grandmother, parents, and two children). 

Here's the synopsis:

Bahe and Dezba are helping their grandmother, Nali, move from her sheep camp home to their house. The family is packing up, carrying heavy boxes, and settling into a new life together, which isn’t always easy. At every frustration, they throw up their hands and exclaim, “Yaadila!” Good grief!

Bahe sees that this big change is hardest for Nali. But he has a secret plan. Whatever can he be doing with a bucket of water, all that yarn, and Dezba’s dollhouse?

In this heartwarming and quintessentially Navajo (Diné) story, author Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian) and illustrator Jonathan Nelson (Diné) together show a big change for an Elder made easier with a creative gesture of love and care.  

In my webinars, I tell participants to go right to the end matter in a book to study the author's notes. Those pages are packed with information that teachers, parents, librarians -- anyone who is going to use the book -- need to fully engage the story.

When you flip to the back of this book to find the Author's Note, the first thing you'll is a large red box with a note (white text on a red background) from the "Helpful Narrator" who says

Shhh. Don't tell Bahe, but I'm sneaking back. Wow, wasn't that a fun story? You learned how to yáadilá. You saw how a little sister could be annoying when you're busy doing something nice for your nali. And how cool was it to learn new Diné words? Now it's that time in a picture book when you learn about the author. The author--

In the midst of that sentence, we see an interruption in black text: "Excuse me? What are you doing here?" and then, the final sentence in the red box:

The author has a few words to share on her own. Yáadilá! I'm really done. Hágoónee'.

And beneath that red box/note from Helpful Narrator, we find the Author's Note. 

We first met Helpful Narrator in the opening pages. There, it tells us (the readers) how to say yáadilá and how to convey it, too, with body language. As soon as I get a hard copy of the book, I'll be back with some screen captures to show you how this all plays out. 

Helpful Narrator's purpose is to speak to us in ways that resonate with me. Within Native communities--and yours, too, perhaps--a reading or storytelling has moments when the reader/speaker steps out of the story to say something. It is a natural way of storytelling. In film, that's called "breaking the fourth wall" and it annoys some people, but I like it because it feels right to me. Storytelling is not strictly a performance! Storytellers might perform but they also engage their audience. That's what Helpful Narrator does in the opening pages, and at the end, too. 

I'll be back with more to say about this wonderful book. Obviously I am delighted with it which means I'm highly recommending that you get it for your public and school libraries, and for your classrooms, and your home library, too!

About Native Women

Earlier this week I was at a holiday gathering in Washington DC. Across the room, I saw the Native woman who wrote one of my all-time favorite children's books: Sharice Davids. Her book, Sharice's Big Voice came out in 2021. Here's the cover:

Some context: 

Back in 2016, Native people were excited when Sharice Davids was running to represent Kansas in the U.S. House. She's Ho-Chunk. During that same time, Deb Haaland was running to represent New Mexico. She is Laguna. There was a lot of joy when they won!

And when they were sworn in, Native people shared the footage from CBS of Davids and Haaland embracing. From then on, they were Representative Davids, and Representative Haaland.  Here's a screen capture from the CBS video:

I remember being so excited! And of course, I thought that we need some children's books about them. Now--in 2023--there are several books. What made meeting Sharice Davids even better was when I was saw she had Laurel Goodluck's biography of Deb Haaland with her. 

The event was hosted by Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland. In 2021, President Biden selected her to serve in his Cabinet. On the other side of the wall where that photo of me and Representative Davids was taken, Secretary Haaland was about to speak to all of us who were there for the holiday gathering. 

Why was I there? Well, my daughter--Elizabeth Hidalgo Reese--invited me to go with her. In April of 2023, she began working as the Senior Policy Advisor for Native Affairs in President Biden's Domestic Policy Council. When Secretary Haaland delivered her remarks that night, she said a few things about Liz and her work on the 2023 Tribal Nations Summit! Of course, I was beaming. I am so proud of her! 

As I reflect back on that night, I feel a tremendous sense of community. The community of Native women who devote time and energy to make change in the lives of Native people. I'm in that community, too, like my mom is, and like my grandmother was. As 2024 approaches, the memory of that gathering warms my entire being. I'll close by saying Kú'daawó'háa to Liz and everyone who works for the well-being of Native children, in whatever way you do. It matters. 

Again, Kú'daawó'háa. 

__________

Ask for the books at your local library!

Sharice's Big Voice by Sharice Davids

She Persisted: Deb Haaland by Laurel Goodluck

Deb Haaland: First Native American Cabinet Secretary by Matthew Martinez and Jill Doerfloer

What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me: Deb Haaland's Historic Inauguration by Alexis Bunten

Native Women Changing Their Worlds by Patricia J. Cutright

  

Highly Recommended: ROCK YOUR MOCS, written by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Rock Your Mocs

Written by Laurel Goodluck

Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

Published by Heartdrum

Published in 2023

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

Several years ago on Native social media, I saw people talking about plans to wear their moccasins for "Rock Your Mocs" day. On that day, we took photos of our mocs and shared them joyously in a way that radiated an Indigenous solidarity vibe (I'm borrowing that phrase from page 12 of Cynthia Leitich Smith's new book, Harvest House.) I felt a tremendous lift, scrolling through my timelines and looking at the many different kinds of moccasins people were wearing. If you want to see what I mean, search #RockYourMocs on social media. 

A couple of years ago when I saw that Laurel Goodluck and Madelyn Goodnight were doing a picture book about Rock Your Mocs day, I was absolutely delighted! Turning that day into a picture book is brilliant! It is one way to show readers that Native peoples are people of tribal nations located across the continent, and that our names, languages, histories, stories, songs homes--and clothing--are unique.

Just look at that cover and you'll see another huge plus. Those are Native kids of the present day.  The art is gorgeous, the idea is brilliant and the opportunity to know us for who we are: outstanding! 

When you start reading you'll come across the names of twelve different tribal nations, which means that children of those nations have mirrors that reflect who they are. Books as mirrors is a metaphor put forth by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop in 1991 (read her article and you'll understand the metaphor). 

Those twelve? Colville, Hidatsa, Hopi-Tewa, Inupiaq, Little Shell Chippewa, Menominee, Navajo, Ojibwe, Osage, Seminole, Tuscarora, and Yurok. 

Goodluck's text is ebullient. Here's a look at the left-side of one page. "Indigenous Nations." "...in cities and towns..." and "We're stylin' today as we Rock Our Mocs!" All of that is terrific. And the decision to put "Rock Our Mocs" in a larger font size than the rest of the text works so well!

Here and there you'll see Native words. On one page, Ajuawak (he's the Ojibwe child) is standing at a chalkboard on which someone has written Ojibwe words for numbers from 1 to 10. I can see a teacher doing that for other Native languages. 

In the final pages -- which I strongly encourage you to read -- you'll find three helpful sections of background. First is a brief history of Rock Your Mocs Day and that it began in 2011 when Jessica "Jaylyn" Atsye of Laguna Pueblo suggested wearing mocs beyond days when we wear them for ceremonies or powwows. Second is information about moccasins, and third is a section titled Indigenous Children. There, you'll learn that Native children may be intertribal, or bi- or tri-cultural. I can use myself as an example. My mom is from Ohkay Owingeh. Her mother was from there and her father was Hopi. My dad is from Nambé Owingeh. His mother was from there and his father was white. In terms of tribal identity, I'm enrolled at Nambé, but I also have Ohkay Owingeh and Hopi relatives. Raised and enrolled at Nambé, my traditional moccasins and clothing are the kind worn at Nambé. 

I adore what I see in Rock Your Mocs and recommend you get copies for your classroom and school library and that you consider getting one for your home library, too. And gift copies to friends! 

Ku'daa, University of New Mexico Native Alumni Chapter!

I am deeply honored that the University of New Mexico's Native American Alumni Chapter chose me to receive one of its Outstanding Alumni Awards for 2022.  I received this stunningly beautiful plate, painted by Sherry L. Aragon of Acoma Pueblo. 

Here's the flyer announcing the gala:

Due to prior commitments, I wasn't able to travel to Albuquerque for the gala, but I did send in a recorded message for them. The gala itself was on the same day as the Brackeen v Haaland oral argument at the Supreme Court on Nov 9. This is what I said:

Good evening. 

This morning, Native people from across the country were gathering in Washington DC or online to listen to the Supreme Court oral arguments in Brackeen v Haaland. 

I’m living in the San Francisco Bay area right now. Wherever I am, I talk about kids and books. or more precisely, the ways that stories in books tell others who we are. That work is why I can’t be with you tonight. I’m in the midst of working with teachers in this area. 

I tell teachers and librarians that our status as sovereign native nations has been left out of popular, classic, and award winning books. Those books shape what people know about us. They shape what the Brackeen’s know about us. Those books are part of why the Indian Child Welfare Act is at risk, right now.

Those books are a threat to our sovereignty. 

I’m grateful to UNM’s Native American Alumni Chapter for selecting me to receive this award. It acknowledges the importance of the work I do to help educators understand what is wrong with those popular and award-winning books. 

And it acknowledges the work I do to bring visibility to Native writers who are creating books that affirm who we are. 

In October, an absolutely terrific picture book by two Native people came out. That book is Forever Cousins. Written by Laurel Goodluck and illustrated by Jonathan Nelson, it is about cousins growing up together in the Bay Area. 

 

In the Author’s Note, Goodluck writes about the Indian Relocation Act. It is why she grew up in the Bay Area. She also writes about sovereignty! 

I talked about Forever Cousins in a workshop I did earlier this week. After the workshop, one of the participants approached me. She was deeply touched by Goodluck’s book. She is from Tesuque Pueblo, and like Laurel, grew up in the Bay Area. 

Forever Cousins is one book, but it sits amongst a growing number of books by Native writers and illustrators who are creating books that should be in every classroom, and every library.

Like many of you, I’m deeply worried about Brackeen v. Haaland, and, I am confident that as we continue to raise our voices and use books by Native writers, we are disrupting the harms done by older classics that misrepresent who we are. Buy books by Native writers, and talk about them to everyone you know. Help me to bring visibility to books that lift our children and our nations. 

Ku’daa.  

I offer my congratulations to Nicolle Gonzales. She, too, was honored by the Native Alumni chapter. She founded the Changing Woman Initiative. Here's a video of her:

If you are able to support her work, go to the Changing Woman Initiative's website. Down at the bottom of the page is a Donate button. 

Highly Recommended: FOREVER COUSINS written by Laurel Goodluck; illustrated by Jonathan Nelson

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Forever Cousins

Written by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian member)

Illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné)

Published by Charlesbridge

Publication Year: 2022

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Status: Highly Recommended

****

As I turned the pages of Forever Cousins, I thought back to the early 1990s when we left Nambé's reservation to go to graduate school in Illinois. Our daughter was three years old. She and her cousins were in tears. The always-present playing options were about to change. 

When you start reading Forever Cousins, you'll meet Amanda and Kara and to a lesser degree, Forrest. You'll learn a lot about them. The two girls are together all the time. Sometimes they're doing things most kids in the U.S. do--like make jelly sandwiches--and sometimes they're doing something Native kids do, like dancing at a powwow. On the cover you see both girls have dolls. Those are quite special! They were made for them by their magúu (the author's note tells us that magúu is a Hidatsa word that means grandmother).

We learn that they live in a city and that Kara and her family are moving from the city to the Rez. They'll see each other in a year. A year! In subsequent pages we see the two, both feeling alone while doing the same activity. Amanda is at a powwow in the city (we see tall buildings in the background), holding her doll close as she sits on a folding chair. Kara is at a powwow on the Rez (we see low hills in the background). Her mom offers her some fry bread but she just hugs her doll and shakes her head.  

Throughout, Nelson's illustrations set the story very much in the present day. That's especially evident on the page where the two girls talk to each other using a video platform on their cell phones. Like anyone, we use all the forms of literacy and communication available to us! I like that but I also like the page where Amanda gets a post card from Kara. Finally it is time for Amanda and her family to hit the road! It'll take two days to get to the Rez. Nelson shows us their joy when they cross a state border. That made me smile. When we drove from Illinois to Nambé, we'd cheer just like that when we crossed from Texas into New Mexico! 

Amanda and her family arrive at the reunion, and after some initial shyness, the cousins have a great time and we see the families gathered while a new baby gets his Hidatsa name. It is then time to say their goodbye's. 

The story Goodluck and Nelson share in the pages of Forever Cousins is a joy to read and look at. Like the recent books by Native writers, it has an extensive Author's Note that provides teachers with information that helps them understand why Amanda and Kara and their families aren't on the reservation when the story starts. In her note, Goodluck says that the characters in her book represent her and her cousins growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in the Bay Area suburbs of California. She shares some background about her family and cousins and how the city and the Rez were both home and community. She says:

As a matter of fact, we are dual citizens: first enrolled members of sovereign Tribal Nations and then citizens of the United States. The term "sovereign nation" means a Tribal Nation that governs itself. If it is federally recognized, then it has a governmental relationship with the United States as a nation with a nation.

Those of you who know me probably guess that my heart is soaring as I read those sentences! Teachers: download Affirming Indigenous Sovereignty: A Civics Inquiry by Sarah B. Shear, Leilani Sabsazlian, and Lisa Brown Buchanan. It'll provide you with ideas on how you can incorporate tribal sovereignty into your classroom. 

In the portion of her note titled "From the Reservation to the City" she tells us that her parents moved from their reservation to the city because of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. It was a federal program that was described as a way for Native people to move to cities and get vocational job training--but there was more to it than that. Goodluck writes:

In actuality, the federal government wanted to erase Native culture by moving Native people to cities so they would adapt to the lifestyles of white people. 

I am so glad to see that sentence in this book! This is the honesty that ought to be in every book! 

She goes on to say that her parents were able to get jobs in the city, but that the government promise of a job did not work for most tribal people. They endured discrimination and racism. I have uncles and aunts who moved to cities for jobs. Some got those jobs and stayed in those cities, others came back very soon. I suggest you read Indian No More because it, too, is about this relocation program. 

I'm sharing the final paragraph in the note because it is so very powerful:

The treatment of Native Americans in the United States was and sometimes still is despicable. But as with the family in this story and with my own family, unjust experiences forge tight bonds between us and make us strong. Our resiliency is rooted in our ceremonies and culture. We have a deep love of home. The land reminds us of our ancestors, storytelling helps us make good decisions, and we continue to have love and loyal family connections that are unbreakable.

Forever Cousins is tribally specific. Both, the author and illustrator, are Native. The story is set in the present day. It can--and should be--read year-round (not confined to a heritage month or day). It is getting a 'highly recommended' label from me, but my enthusiasm for the book is much more than a 'highly recommended' label conveys. With this story and the note, Goodluck and Nelson give teachers or parents information that they can carry with them when they close this book and choose another one that features Native people. They see us as people who live in a city or on a reservation. They can see us as people whose identities and lives as Native people are central to who we are, and who share the same sorts of joys and fears that kids of other cultures do, too. 

Forever Cousins is one of the best books I've read. I'm delighted to read it, to write about it, and to recommend it to everyone.