It’s Indigenous Peoples' Day! We urge you — today and all year — to seek out and share books respectfully representing indigenous North American peoples and cultures. For an extensive resource by a cultural insider and a children’s literature scholar, please visit Dr. Debbie Reese’s website American Indians in Children’s Literature (and in particular the “Best Books of the Year” lists). See also the American Indian Library Association's American Indian Youth Literature Award. Pick up a copy of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese; and 2021's young readers' edition of Anton Treuer's Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask [July/Aug 2021].

2021 saw a groundbreaking (and long-overdue) first Caldecott win for a woman of color and a Native person, with the Medal going to illustrator Michaela Goade for We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom. Read Goade's acceptance speech here. More by and about this superlative artist, and her creative partnership with Lindstrom — who is herself a Native author — can be found here. 

Our Indigenous Peoples' Day 2020 post had a great many links to interviews, articles, book reviews, and more to commemorate this day. In addition, relevant Horn Book articles from this past year include:

• Julie Flett's 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor speech [Jan/Feb 2020] for Birdsong [starred review; Nov/Dec 2019]
• Five Questions for Angeline Boulley about Firekeeper's Daughter [starred review; May/June 2021]

• Cynthia Leitich Smith and Rosemary Brosnan Talk with Roger about Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s books devoted to books by and about Native Americans.

• Cherie Dimaline Talks with Roger about Hunting by Stars

Other recommended books recently reviewed by the Horn Book:

Picture Books

• We All Play by Julie Flett [starred review; May/June 2021]
• Raven, Rabbit, Deer by Sue Farrell Holler; illus. by Jennifer Faria [Jan/Feb 2021]
• Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh / This Is How I Know: Niibing, dgwaagig, bboong, mnookmig dbaadjigaade maanpii mzin'igning / A Book About the Seasons by Brittany Luby; illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley; trans. from Anishinaabemowin by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere [July/Aug 2021]
• On the Trapline by David A. Robertson; illus. by Julie Flett [starred review; July/Aug 2021]
• Nibi's Water Song by Sunshine Tenasco; illus. by Chief Lady Bird [Nov/Dec 2021]

Fiction

• Peacemaker by Joseph Bruchac [July/Aug 2021] 
• Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac [Sep/Oct 2021]
• The Sea in Winter by Christine Day [Mar/Apr 2021]
• Borders by Thomas King [starred review; Nov/Dec 2021]
• A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger [Nov/Dec 2021]
• Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley; illus. by Tara Audibert [starred review; July/Aug 2021]
• Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith [Mar/Apr 2021]
• Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith [Sep/Oct 2021]
• Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young [July/Aug 2021]

Folklore

• Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua by Gloria Amescua; illus. by Duncan Tonatiuh [Sep/Oct 2021]
• The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas by María García Esperón; illus. by Amanda Mijangos; trans. from Spanish by David Bowles [starred review; Mar/Apr 2021]

Nonfiction

• One Real American: The Life of Ely S. Parker, Seneca Sachem and Civil War General by Joseph Bruchac [Jan/Feb 2021]'
• Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids with Nancy K. Mays; illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley [Guide/Reviews Database]
• The Water Lady: How Darlene Arviso Helps a Thirsty Navajo Nation by Alice B. McGinty; illus. by Shonto Begay [Mar/Apr 2021]
• Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell; illus. by Natasha Donovan [July/Aug 2021]
• We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell; illus. by Frané Lessac [starred review; May/June 2021]
• Book Bundles: American Indians [Guide/Reviews Database]

See our booklists from 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 for additional titles.

We welcome your suggestions as well.