HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage

The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage 

Written by David A. Robertson (Norway House Cree)

Published by Highwater Press (Portage & Main)

Publication Year: 2024

Reviewer: Jean Mendoza

Review Status: Highly Recommended

It's good to see the publication of more stories for young people about Indigenous athletes, both fictional and real. Byron Graves' Rez Ball is a case in point; as Debbie pointed out in her review, basketball is a Thing in many Native communities. In what's currently called Canada, so I'm told, hockey is that Thing. The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage is a middle-grade novel about a young Cree hockey player who moves from the reserve to Winnipeg.

Here's what the publisher says:

Everything is changing for 11-year-old Alex Robinson. After his father accepts a new job, Alex and his family move from their community to the city. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t fit in. His fellow students don’t understand Indigenous culture. Even a simple show of respect to his teacher gets him in trouble. Things begin to look up after Alex tries out for a local hockey team. Playing for the Kodiaks, Alex proves himself as one of the best, but he becomes a target because he’s Indigenous. Can Alex trust his teammates and stand up to the jerks on other teams? Can he find a way to fit in and still be who he’s meant to be?

Reason #1: A caring, perceptive Indigenous family. Alex is a likable character who brings kindness and humor to his family and peer relationships. They reciprocate, which gives Alex the strength to adjust to the move, a new school, and a new hockey team. When he experiences a tremendous hurt, compounded by an injustice, his parents and friends stage what he thinks of as an intervention, to persuade him that in fact he should continue with hockey.

Reason #2: Realistically portrayed racist micro-aggressions and full-on aggressions. For better or for worse, trash-talking seems to be part of sports. Anti-Indigenous insults and general ignorance or malice spoken aloud can make competitions a minefield for young Native athletes. Alex experiences several such incidents and must come to terms with how to handle them. He finds the courage to speak up when he needs to -- as when a teammate nicknames him Chief or an otherwise well-meaning coach uses terms like "low man on the totem pole." Still, the time comes when anti-Indigenous hatred directed at him by opposing players and adult fans is too much. Robertson shows how devastating such an experience can be for a child, and how important wise support from adults and peers can be at such times.

Reason #3: Exciting game play descriptions. I don't know much about hockey but Robertson put me right there on the ice with Alex.

Reason #4: First of a series, which the publisher is calling The Breakout Chronicles. Good news for young people, Native or not, who love a high-quality series! We hope teachers and librarians will buy copies of this one for their shelves, and keep their eyes open for the next Breakout Chronicles book.

Highly Recommended: STITCHES OF TRADITION by Marcie Rendon; illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition)

Written by Marcie Rendon (enrolled member of the White Earth Nation)

Illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Anishinaabe; member of Wasauksing First Nation

Published in 2024

Publisher: Heartdrum (Imprint of HarperCollins)

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

Regular readers of AICL know that I urge them to look at author's notes whenever they pick up a book by a Native writer. Doing that gives you (teacher, parent, librarian, professor, reviewer...) information that you probably did not get in school or college. That information supports the reading you'll do when you flip back to the front of the book and start reading the words and looking at the illustrations. 

Marcie Rendon's note for Stitches of Tradition is outstanding. Her note focuses on ribbon skirts. The second paragraph stands out to me:

Skirts are worn not only in traditional ceremonies but also as a political statement. There are many different teachings about the skirt, but the most important thing to remember is that the ribbon skirt says, We are here. We have survived genocide. We are resilient and beautiful.

Some words make me pump my fist and declare YES. Those words did precisely that. The dedication did, too. Rendon's is "For all the grandgirls." And the illustrator, Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley's is "To the women who raised me, and to all the matriarchs guiding us to a brighter future." Imagine more loud declarations from me. 

All right! So what is this story about? Here's the description:

An Ojibwe grandmother carefully measures and selects just the right colors of fabric, and her sewing machine hums whirr, whirr, whirr late into the night.

In the morning, her growing granddaughter has a beautiful new ribbon skirt to wear, a reminder of her nookomis and the cultural traditions that stitch together her family with love.

That basic scene repeats as that grandaughter gets older and her grandma makes another skirt. This part is especially dear because I can see it in my memory and imagine it in other Native homes across the country: 

Nookomis whips out a measuring tape. She measures how round I am from my belly button back around to my belly button. She measures how long I am from my waist to my ankle. She says, "You're growing so tall." 

Deep sigh--thinking about times when I was being measured or when I was doing the measuring for one of our traditional dresses--and for the time when I'll be measuring my granddaughter and reading this lovely book to that granddaughter! 

Now for the political part. At various times as the granddaughter gets older, she needs a new skirt. About halfway through the story we read that her auntie, who is a lawyer, is becoming a district judge. The granddaughter and grandma need new skirts to honor her at the upcoming swearing in. So Nookomis gets out that measuring tape and measures her granddaughter. And then, she says:

"Noozhishenh, now you must measure me." 
Sweet as can be! And oh so real! 

Here's the swearing-in page:

 

This book is full of goodness and reality of who Native people are, culturally and politically, and there's layers to it, too, with deep significance for Native people. For those who are Ojibwe there's things in the illustrations that will call to them. Obviously, I highly recommend Stitches of Tradition!  

Highly Recommended: BIINDIGEN! AMIK SAYS WELCOME

Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome

by Nancy Cooper (Chippewas of Rama First Nation)

Illustrations by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Wasauksing First Nation)

Published in 2023

Publisher: Owl Kids (Canada)

Reviewer: Jean Mendoza

Review Status: Highly Recommended

This is a short-and-sweet review of a cool picture book from the shelves of one of my favorite local places, the Urbana Free Library in Urbana, Ilinois. It's a pleasure to know they offer some of the most current books by and about Indigenous people. 

Here's what the publisher, Owl Kids, says about Biindigen!:

It’s a special day for Amik the beaver and her little sister, Nishiime. Their cousins are coming to visit! Amik is excited, but Nishiime feels nervous about meeting new people, and when the cousins finally arrive, Nishiime disappears.

Lively, immersive illustrations show Amik and her cousins as they search the woods for Nishiime. Each creature they encounter, introduced to readers using their Anishinaabe names, reveals how beavers help the forest community. A fish thanks them for digging canals in the mud that they swim through. A deer thanks the beavers for cutting down trees so they can reach the tastiest leaves. None of the creatures have seen Nishiime, but keen-eyed kids will have spotted her hiding in the background throughout the story....With the perfect blend of fact and fun, this salute to the industrious beaver is also an energetic celebration of Indigenous perspectives, languages, and diversity.

Reason #1 to recommend this book: the illustrations. AICL has reviewed several books illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, including Sharice's Big Voice. Readers will notice differences in how Pawis-Steckley approaches the subjects in each of the books. In Biindigen! the animals' bodies have some of the stylized lines and forms seen in Boozhoo! Hello!, but they have a somewhat different "feel."  They are plump, sleek, and lively-looking. And it's fun looking for Nishiime after she vanishes from her sister's sight.

My only concern is that the inking on some of the pages in the copy I have is so dark that details can be hard to see. In the sample pages on the Owl Kids web site,  the illustrations seem much brighter.

Reason #2: centering Indigenous knowledge. Author Nancy Cooper reveals in a non-didactic (yet accurate) way how beavers operate as a keystone species in the environments they occupy. This is an important understanding for children, as many people mistakenly view beavers as destructive -- cutting down trees, blocking streams, and so on. But the other animals that appear in the story express gratitude for the ways beaver activity benefits them.

Another fact implicit in Cooper's storytelling is that Native Nations interacted with each other for millennia, across distance and language differences, often using water routes on their journeys. The Beaver cousins do the same thing -- traveling far to get together, carrying or wearing items from their homelands and nations. That's something to point out when sharing the book with children.

Reason #3: promotion of Indigenous languages. The beavers know each other by their names in the languages of the places they come from, including Anishinaabemowin, Inuktitut, and Ayajuthum. Cooper's storytelling incorporates several Anishinaabe words (the meanings are apparent in context) and provides pronunciations and English definitions in the back matter. Seeing their language in good books is a big positive for Native children, and learning about Indigenous languages is important for non-Native kids, as well.

Reason #4: portraying shyness as okay. Amik and the cousins are eager to get together. Nishiime thinks she is, but is overtaken by shyness. She watches instead, as many young children do in new situations. She returns to Amik only when the cousins are about to depart, after she has determined that she will feel safe with them. Instead of scolding her or pointing out the joy she missed by not joining in, the older beavers are happy to see her and answer her questions before they head for home. 

Biindigen: Amik Says Welcome can be an asset in several areas of the primary curriculum. I hope teachers and librarians will follow the example of my favorite library and get a copy -- or more than one -- for the bookshelves.

 

Highly Recommended! CHOOCH HELPED by Andrea L. Rogers, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz

Chooch Helped

by Andrea L. Rogers (citizen of the Cherokee Nation)

illustrated by Rebecca Lee Knuz (citizen of the Cherokee Nation)

Published in 2024

Publisher: Levine Querido

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

Sometimes a story reaches right into your being and makes you laugh, smile, wince, and then it makes you feel loved. That is my experience reading Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers. She's a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Illustrations are by Rebecca Lee Kunz, who is also a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. 

Look at the cover. Kunz's art captures precisely what we see as we begin reading Chooch Helped. The posture of the girl as she peers over her shoulder at the boy watering a plant, spilling water as he does it captures what we see in the first part of the book. His red cape and red boots... how many of us have memories of siblings or cousins who wore things like that?!  How many of us have a younger brother or sister who--even as they grew into toddlerhood--were called "the baby"? Chooch Helped invites us to revisit our own memories and, perhaps, tell our little ones about an auntie or uncle who annoyed us when we were kids. I adore what this story does for me, and can't wait to read it to kids! 

Setting that aside for now, this story does more than touch on memories. In a straightforward way, Rogers introduces us to some Cherokee words. Cherokee families may feel a special delight seeing their language in this book. The rest of us may tell our children words in our own languages as we read Chooch Helped. 

I urge you to get a copy and flip to the back matter. Take a look at those pages before reading the book with kids. You'll find a glossary that tells you how to say the Cherokee words in the story. And, you'll find the Author's Note and the Artist's Note. Rogers and Knuz give us tribally specific information that they've put on each page. To most readers, the page where Chooch helps tune up bicycles is just a page about a kid helping his dad fix bikes but in her note, Rogers gives us more depth. She tells us about the 

Cherokee Nation's Remember the Removal Bike Ride. Here's that portion:

In the Artist's Note, Kunz tells us about Cherokee patterns in baskets and as I studied the illustrations to find it, I spotted (and loved) the green footprints we learn about as we get to the end of the story. That reveal is clever and delightful and oh-so-perfect! I adore this book! 

Get a few copies for friends! If you're a teacher, get one for your classroom, and librarians, get copies for your library system. 

Highly Recommended: THIS LAND: THE HISTORY OF THE LAND WE'RE ON by Ashley Fairbanks; illustrations by Bridget George

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This Land: The History of the Land We're On

Written by Ashley Fairbanks (White Earth Anishinaabe)

Illustration by Bridget George (Anishinaabe from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation)

Published in 2024

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

Wow! I love how this book starts! The words on the first double-paged spread say "This is my house." Behind it is a river. Beside the house is a tall pine tree. We see a family by the tree. 

Turn the page and see "Before us, another family lived here." On that page, the illustrations are family portrait style. Four different families are shown, each family unique, each clad in modern clothes. 

Turn the page again and we read the words "Before our house was here, there was another family, with a different kind of house." On that page we see see wigwams in a village and the families who lived in them. The people in that village are wearing clothes with Anishinaabe designs. Behind that village is the river we saw earlier, and that tree? It is a small, young tree.

All the faces and families up to that point are cheery, happy. With the words and illustrations on these pages, Fairbanks and George take us from the present into the past, helping readers see, learn, and feel that the land they're on was someone else's before. 

Another page turn and we get hard history. That phrase is used a lot in social justice networks and curriculum, where educators choose to share truths about history that are often omitted. It is a fact that Europeans who came onto Native homelands wanted that land, and the government helped them get it by removing Native peoples from their homelands. We see that on the next page turn. Here's a portion of that page: 

(Image from my copy of the book)

It is followed by another page of hard history. 

But then, we turn the page again and see the little girl from the very first page, running down the street to her friend's house. That friend, TJ, is Anishinaabe. We see him and his grandma standing in a doorway, smiling and waving at the little girl. 

With another page turn we see the little girl, TJ, and his grandmother making bread. The little girl tells us that TJ's grandmother told her about other Native people. At the top of the page, we see nine different people in traditional clothing. 

Picture me, smiling! One of them is a Native woman who is dressed the way I dress when I'm home for one of our ceremonies. That 'wow' I felt when I first read the book continues! The little girl is on a road trip. Here's a sentence you'll get to: 

At the Grand Canyon, I learned that eight tribes call it home: the Havasupai, Yavapai, Paiute, Hopi, Zuni, Hualapai, Apache, and Diné.

Note: Eight tribes call it home. Present tense verbs! In workshops and professional development, I push very hard to encourage educators to use present tense verbs to talk about us. Again, picture me smiling! 

This book is going to be featured in my work, for sure! Another page spread tells us that Disney World is on Seminole land, the White House is on Nacotchtank and Piscataway land, and that Mount Rushmore is on Oceti Sakowin land. There's a link to a database to see what land you (reader) are on, and that page is followed by a page of discussion questions and suggestions to learn more about the people of that land. Illustrations on that page show Native people holding up signs with their tribal nation's name. 

Can you feel and understand why I highly recommend this book? Get more than one copy if you can, and if you'd like to support Native-owned bookstores, go there (in person or on line). One option is Birchbark Books. This could be an illustration of me. GET THE BOOK! 

(Image from my copy of the book)

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. 

Highly Recommended: BEHIND EVERY RUG by Daniel W. Vandever and Lynne Hardy

Those who follow my work know that I've been frustrated many times with things Scholastic does. Sometimes, though, they do a good thing. Case in point? Behind Every Rug. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This little book is by Daniel W. Vandever. I highly recommended his previous books. Fall In Line, Holden! came out in 2017 from Salina Bookshelf and his self-published Herizon came out in 2021. Both won the picture book award from the American Indian Library Association. His newest book, Behind Every Rug is for readers 6-8 years old. 

On the first page of Behind Every Rug, we see a little girl, Nizhoni, as she has just gotten off the school bus. Her mom is waiting for her on the sidewalk. Nizhoni is shown in athletic shoes, jeans, a hoodie, and a backpack. Her mother is wearing moccasins, a Navajo-style skirt and woven belt. She's got a set of car keys in her hand. 

In other words? This is a story set in the present day. 

Online, Vandever said this story is based on his own experiences as a child growing up in St. Louis, Missouri. Some of you are nodding because you know Native people are in big cities and on reservations. Those of you who are nodding are gonna want to get this book, ASAP! You know that wherever we are, people in our families may wear items that reflect who we are, and that in our homes we have items that reflect our cultural identity (in Vandever's book, Diné). For Native students, Vandever's book is a terrific mirror of their lives. Those of you surprised by a story about a Native family -- set in the present day -- you need this book ASAP, too, to give students in your school or classroom a window onto a Diné family's life.

The words on that first page are spoken by Nizhoni, who tells her mom that she has to take something to school the next day that shows her Navajo culture. On subsequent pages, her mom makes suggestions. We see the items her mother is suggesting. And we read Nizhoni's responses to her mom. There's a hesitancy, an anxiety. How will classmates respond to her and the item she chooses to share? Finally, she decides to take the rug she and her grandmother made. She's nervous when her teacher calls her name but students respond positively. Her words remind classmates of people in their families and things they do. Nizhoni then gives them more information about how the rug was made. Visually we're in different place. We see her grandmother, and her grandmother's hogan. In the end, Nizhoni realizes that being different is not scary. 

Behind Every Rug is in Scholastic's Our Voices: School & Friends collection. Here's the problem.  I can't figure out a way for you to purchase the book. You have to buy a single-copy collection (one copy of ten different books) for $26.99 but you don't know what the other ten books are. Updating on July 14 to say that the editor for the book sent me a link with the titles of the other books.  Maybe the information is available and I'm not finding it on the Scholastic website! If you see a way to get just that one book, let me know. If a Scholastic rep sees this post, maybe they'll let us know. Perhaps you can ask your child's teacher or a resource person at your school to order the collection. 

And! Just announced today (July 5) is another self-published book from Vandever. Titled We Weave, he shared the cover: 

Bottom line? Look for books by Daniel W. Vandever!