In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we’ve compiled a list of picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels and books for young adults written by Native American and First Nations authors. Enjoy!
Picture Books
My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith (Cree/Lakota/Scottish)
Talking with Mother Earth / Hablando con Madre Tierra by Jorge Argueta (Pipil Nahua)
The woman who outshone the sun / La mujer que brillaba aún más que el sol by Alejandro Cruz Martinez (Zapotec)
We Are Grateful : Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell (Cherokee)
Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard (Seminole)
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (Anishinabe/Metis)
Encounter by Brittany Luby (Anishinaabe-kwe, atik totem)
Rabbit’s Snow Dance by James and Joseph Bruchac (Nulhegan Abenaki)
Chapter Books
Coyote Tales by Thomas King (Cherokee/German/Greek)
Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek)
Middle Grade
Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis (Umpqua)
The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book 1by David A. Robertson (Cree Swampy)
I Can Make this Promise by Christine Day (Upper Skagit)
Stone River Crossing by Tim Tingle (Chocktaw)
The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills (Ililiw/Cree)
My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson
The Brave by James Bird (Ojibwe)
Young Adult Fiction
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline (Métis)
Hearts Unbroken By Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek)
After The Fall By Kate Hart (Chickasaw citizen/Choctaw)
Give Me Some Truth By Eric Gansworth (Onondaga)
Pemmican Wars by Katherena Vermette (Métis)
Strangers by David A. Robertson (Cree Swampy)
Young Adult/Middle Grade Nonfiction
#NotYourPrincess : Voices of Native American Women edited by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Lisa Charleyboy (Tsilhqot’in)
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz ; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo)
Jim Thorpe: Original All-American by Joseph Bruchac (Nulhegan Abenaki)
Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices edited by Lisa Charleyboy (Tsilhqot’in)and Mary Beth Leatherdale