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NOT RECOMMENDED: "Native Americans Part 1" (a Video on PBS)
A reader wrote to ask me about a video on PBS, titled Native Americans, Part 1; 2nd [grade] Social Studies. I've loaded it and will watch and pause as I do to make notes here. The person in the video...
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"Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?"
On September 30, 2023 the Times Union (a newspaper in New York), published a commentary titled "Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?" It is the latest in many items about him and the groups in Vermont who...
View ArticleHouse and Senate Resolutions Regarding Book Banning and Threats to Freedom of...
On 9/27/2023, the US Senate introduced S.RES.372 (a resolution). You can read and track the resolution here. I'm pasting it below, as part of the record that AICL maintains. It specifically mentions...
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Debbie--have you seen ALONE by Megan E. Freeman?
A reader submitted a comment to my open letter to Kate DiCamillo about Island of the Blue Dolphins, asking if I've seen Alone by Megan E. Freeman. Freeman's book refers to Island of the Blue Dolphins....
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving, by Chris...
If You Lived During the Plimoth ThanksgivingWritten by Chris Newell (citizen of Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township)Illustrated by Winona Nelson (member of Leech Lake Band of Minnesota...
View ArticleAbout Buffy Sainte-Marie
On October 27, 2023 CBC News published Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie? and The Fifth Estate did a segment, Investigating Buffy Sainte-Marie's claims to Indigenous ancestry. In Native networks,...
View ArticleMy Thoughts on Claims to Cherokee Identity -- and Art Coulson
I've been reading, studying, and writing about children's books for over thirty years. The ones I write about are those about Native people, and those written by Native people. How do I know if someone...
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AICL's Year In Review for 2023
AICL'S YEAR IN REVIEW: 2023American Indians in Children's Literature is pleased to share our annual year-end list of books we want you to know about. We'd like multiple copies of them to be in every...
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About Native Women
Earlier this week I was at a holiday gathering in Washington DC. Across the room, I saw the Native woman who wrote one of my all-time favorite children's books: Sharice Davids. Her book, Sharice's Big...
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New in 2024: Books by Native writers and illustrators
Last year (on Twitter) I did a thread of books by Native writers and illustrators slated for release in 2023. I'm going to do that list here. IMPORTANT: I have not read these books yet! If I do you'll...
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News! JUST LIKE GRANDMA written by Kim Rogers ...
Wonderful news! Yesterday on social media, Kim Rogers (enrolled member of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes) told us that Just Like Grandma won the 2024 Charlotte Zolotow Award! Here's her...
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News: American Indian Library Association announced its 2024 Youth Literature...
Good morning, AICL readers! Yesterday (Jan 22, 2024) the American Library Association announced its annual book awards. Below a list of the winners of the American Indian Library Association's Youth...
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News! Louise Erdrich's THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE will be available as an audiobook
As far as I know, there are no 'anniversary editions' of Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House. Today, a teacher wrote to me about the book. She's using it with her students. So--it is on my mind. I...
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Highly Recommended: A GIRL CALLED ECHO OMNIBUS
A Girl Called Echo OmnibusWritten by Katherena Vermette (Red River Metis)Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson (not Native); Colors by Donovan Yaciuk (not Native)Published in 2023Publisher: Highwater...
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Leaders of Abenaki Nations request Educators stop making space for specific...
Update from Debbie on Feb 21: I edited the title of this blog and the second paragraph to more accurately reflect the request in the Odanak leader's letter. My initial emphasis was on books but the...
View ArticleAmerican Indians, Alaska Native, First Nation, Native American people and the...
In 2015, Lee and Low released the results of its first Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS), which is a survey to document how diverse employees in publishing entities are. That sentence feels awkward but I...
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Facts in WE ARE STILL HERE: NATIVE AMERICAN TRUTHS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW are...
Today (March 13, 2024) I read an article in The Gothamistthat starts with this image:What you're looking at is a stack of twelve copies of Sorell and Lessac's We Are Still Here: Native American Truths...
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Native Readers are gonna be PSYCHED to know Arigon Starr has a new SUPER...
One of my most-dear memories is when I was working with a group of elementary-aged Native children in New Mexico and told them about Arigon Starr's Super Indian. At lunch time, one girl looked for me...
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Updates to Previous Posts about Vermont Groups that Claim to be Abenaki
On Feb 20, 2024 I shared a letter from Chief Rick O'Bomsawin, Abenaki of Odanak and Chief Michel R. Bernard, Abenaki of W8linak. In it, they asked educators in Vermont to stop making space for specific...
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Andrea L. Rogers and Madelyn Goodnight's WHEN WE GATHER...
When We Gather (Ostadahlisiha): A Cherokee Tribal Feast Written by Andrea L. Rogers (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation)Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Citizen of the Chickasaw Nation)Published by...
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