(4) 4-6 Photos of contemporary Native American children are the best part of this book that seeks to break down stereotypes. The text is divided into twenty-six double-page spreads, with some sections focusing on a single tribe, while others feature a group or confederacy. Volumes in Lerner's We Are Still Here series, with their single-tribe/single-child perspective, are more reader-friendly. Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 1-3 A Choctaw Indian tells a story from his boyhood. In 1847, living in poverty with their population greatly reduced, his people respond to the needs of the Irish during the potato famine by contributing $170 to the U.S. aid efforts. Based on a true event, the story is slightly romanticized but enhanced by pencil drawings with fine attention to detail.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 4-6 Photographs by Suzanne Haldane. Hoop dancer Kevin Locke travels extensively to elementary schools in the United States, performing the hoop dance, playing his flute, and telling stories. Both text and photos feature Locke in different contexts: as a hoop dancer, father, and teacher. The well-written text of this photo essay provides rich details about Lakota culture. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) K-3 The distinctive artistic style of Northwest Coast tribal groups is used to illustrate this simple story of a boy who, lost in a storm, finds himself among killer whale people who teach him a dance and help him return to his people. In an appended note, the author explains that this is an original story based on his knowledge of Northwest Coast cosmology.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) K-3 A Native girl watches some village boys capturing frogs from a nearby lake. When an elder from the frog village asks for her help, the girl frees the frogs, averting the destruction of her village. The illustrations are bold but sometimes awkward. A lengthy author's note explains that this original story is based on motifs in Native folklore of the Pacific Northwest.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Andrea Arroyo. Arroyo's simple, striking illustrations fit well with this moving story about a young girl who braves a snowstorm to get medicinal herbs when the villagers become ill. She loses her moccasins and leaves bloody footprints on the path, which that spring is lined with flowers that come to be known as the moccasin flower, or lady slipper. The text, which is sprinkled with Ojibwe words, is spare but effective. Source note included. Bib.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 1-3 This story describes a traditional Navajo wedding from the point of view of a white child whose best friend, Vanessa, is Navajo. Throughout the day, Vanessa's family explains the details that are part of the wedding ceremony. Though somewhat washed-out looking, the colored pencil art effectively illustrates information in the text. An author's note discussing sources would have been useful.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 4-6 World's Children series. Information about the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Alaska is provided through the text and vivid color photos. Topics range from the influence of the Russian Orthodox religion to a children's summer camp that teaches traditional fishing and food preparation. Many children are shown and mentioned by name, but little information is provided about them and their families, which would have lent immediacy to the book. Ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 4-6 This timely book (following on the heels of the 1999 establishment of Nunavut) provides information about the Inuit culture using inuksuk as the unifying theme. Inuksuk are stone structures built by Inuit people to pass on information about travel routes, hunting or fishing areas, and other aspects of life in the Arctic. Included are contemporary and archival photos and illustrations of inuksuk with captions in the Inuit syllabics language. Ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 1-3 Translated by Philomine Lakota. Illustrated by Christine Fowler. A bilingual text in English and Lakota tells about a Lakota Sioux girl who makes a star quilt and gives it to the rich and powerful man who wants to tear down her apartment building to create commercial enterprises. The quilt reminds him about family, friends, and love, and he changes his mind. Illustrated with striking artwork, the text, though contrived, provides an intriguing glimpse of Lakota culture in modern America.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dyanne Strongbow. First Marta's homework blows out the window and gets chewed up by dogs, then she drops and breaks her glasses. Her grandmother sings her an old healing song/story that helps her see her problems in a new light. The artwork's palette reflects southern Arizona tones, and, although stiffly told, the story provides a rare look at the Tohono O'odham people in a modern setting.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 4-6 Art Around the World series. This book begins with a brief history of the Inuit people, then moves to detailed descriptions of drawings, prints, and sculpture shown in full-color photographs. Also included are snapshots of the artists whose work is showcased. A great deal of information is conveyed in the clearly written text, which incorporates interesting facts (e.g., instead of a word for "art," the Inuit have a word that means "making a likeness"). Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 4-6 First Book series. Accompanying Little Man, a young Abenaki boy, to a powwow, Greene discusses various aspects of the Native American gathering and provides basic history and background information. Color photographs enhance the dry text, which lacks the energy of other books on the same topic, such as George Ancona's Powwow. A list of organizations and websites is appended. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Ziehler-Martin. Navajo storyteller Keams tells one part of the creation/emergence story about how her people came to have drinking water through the efforts of Snail Girl. The story also explains how certain animals came to have their distinctive physical traits. In the garishly colored illustrations, First Woman appears wooden, and the animals are odd-looking combinations of human and animal.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. Kimmy, a contemporary Chippewa girl, stays with her grandmother while her parents look for a home in Chicago. Her grandmother tells her about dreamcatchers, webs made of string and wood that help a child have only good dreams. Despite a couple of lapses in logic, the story is satisfying. Schuett's heavy gouache and acrylic paintings ground the text in reality. Instructions for making a dreamcatcher are included.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by David Rubin. Five-year-old Kitaq, a contemporary Yup'ik boy, has never been ice fishing. Although it's a long day of walking in the cold, his grandfather agrees that Kitaq is old enough to go. The oil paintings capture the brilliant colors of the region, Kitaq's excitement, and how proud his parents and grandfather are of him. The narrative is complemented by a lengthy note about the Yup'ik village of Kwethluk. Glos.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 4-6 World's Children series. Photographs by Cheryl Walsh Bellville. Showing how Lakota culture has evolved and how it has remained unique, Rose matter-of-factly covers many aspects of Lakota life, including topics not typically found in this type of book (poverty and alcoholism, sovereign nation status, reservation schools, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978). In tandem with Bellville's full-color photos, the text provides an accurate perspective on Lakota life today. A pronunciation guide is included. Ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Judith Lowry. In this book based on a true story, Benny Len and his brother, mixed-blood Native Americans in northern California, are sent to boarding school in southern California in the 1930s. The school, where the students are forbidden to speak their Native languages, doesn't provide transportation home for the summer, but Benny's brother finds a way to get them back. The forthright paintings enhance the story, which is moving and informative.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(4) 4-6 In Their Own Voices series. Illustrated with black-and-white photos, this detailed and fascinating account of Tiulana's life begins in the 1920s when, as a boy, he learned survival techniques from elders and concludes with his critique of how the U.S. government assimilation programs have failed to help his people. An appended how-to note about gathering "the stories of our elders" is condescending toward both the teller and collector of stories. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

(2) K-3 Tales of the People series. Illustrated by Tom Coffin. Ol' Man Coyote leaves the Potawatomi reservation to be Rodent Control Officer at the World Trade Center, where, gazing up at the sky, he falls in love with a star. Later, the star drops him--literally--and he falls, creating the Reservoir in Central Park. Rich paintings convey Coyote's antics in this modern retelling sprinkled with references to Native culture. Only brief information is given about the tale's origin. Glos.

Reviewer: Debbie Reese | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999