Ages 3–8
First Laugh: Welcome, Baby!Rose Ann Tahe and Nancy Bo Flood
A Navajo family tries everything to win a baby’s first laugh — and the honor of hosting the First Laugh Ceremony. Jonathon Nelson illustrates.
$16.99$18.99
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Indigenous books
Books by and about Indigenous peoples — history, family, and living culture.
Indigenous kids deserve stories in the present tense: supper, dance, water, grandparents, an ordinary day. This hub is living culture. It is not a museum label, and it is not a November bin.
We look for Native families now. We skip legends with no living people attached. We skip books that only come off the shelf at Thanksgiving. Read these because they are good books.
A starter picture-book pile
The dedicated guide is Indigenous picture books for kids: Fry Bread, We Are Water Protectors, Jingle Dancer, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, All Around Us, and a board book for the lap, My Heart Fills With Happiness.
A question that keeps the story from turning into a lesson: who in this book is having an ordinary day? If the answer is nobody, the book may still be good, but it may be doing museum work. We try not to lead with museum work. Thanksgiving is not when these come off the shelf. They stay out with the trucks and the fairies.
Identity on the page
We do not use an Own Voices badge. If a listing mentions a creator's Nation or community, it comes from public self-identification or publisher materials they approved. If we cannot source it, we leave it out. Creator identity.
Related guides: Indigenous Picture Books for Kids
Audience
Age
81 books · Page 4 of 4 · Clear filters
Ages 3–8
We Are Grateful: OtsaliheligaTraci Sorell
A Cherokee family moves through the seasons saying otsaliheliga — we are grateful. Frané Lessac’s gouache. Sibert Honor.
$17.99$19.99
Buy on BookshopAges 3–8
Rock and Roll Highway: The Robbie Robertson StorySebastian Robertson
Robbie Robertson’s son tells how a Mohawk kid from Toronto became The Band’s guitarist. Picture-book biography.
$18.99$20.99
Buy on BookshopAges 3–8
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and FreedomTim Tingle
Martha Tom of the Choctaw nation meets Little Mo, an enslaved boy across the river. A story of friendship and a crossing. Jeanne Rorex Bridges illustrates.
$18.95$20.95
Buy on BookshopAges 3–8
The People Shall ContinueSimon J. Ortiz
An epic of Native nations — creation, invasion, survival, and continuance — in Ortiz’s voice. Sharol Graves illustrates. Lee & Low.
$19.95$21.95
Buy on BookshopAges 3–8
Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into LightTim Tingle
Tingle’s family story: a grandmother’s injury, a word the kids use for trouble, and a move toward healing. Karen Clarkson illustrates.
$18.95$20.95
Buy on BookshopAges 3–8
Kohala Kuamoʻo: Naeʻole’s Race to Save a KingKekauleleanaʻole Kawaiʻaeʻa
The Hawaiian story of Naeʻole racing to protect the infant Kamehameha. Kamehameha Publishing.
$15.95$17.95
Ages 3–8
Fall in Line, Holden!Daniel W. Vandever
At a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school, Holden would rather imagine than march in a straight line. Navajo. Salina Bookshelf.
$21.95$23.95
Ages 3–8
Mission to SpaceJohn Herrington
Chickasaw astronaut John Herrington’s path from Oklahoma to the International Space Station, in his own words. White Dog Press.
$18.95$20.95
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