Desmond and the Very Mean Word

When Desmond takes his new bicycle out for a ride through his neighborhood, his pride and joy turn to hurt and anger when a group of boys shout a very mean word at him. He first responds by shouting an insult, but soon discovers that fighting back with mean words doesn’t make him feel any better. With the help of kindly Father Trevor, Desmond comes to understand his conflicted feelings and see that all people deserve compassion, whether or not they say they are sorry. Brought to vivid life in A. G. Ford’s energetic illustrations, this heartfelt, relatable story conveys timeless wisdom about how to handle bullying and angry feelings, while seeing the good in everyone.

The Market Bowl

In this tale from Cameroon, Yoyo has to make amends when she offends Brother Coin, the Great Spirit of the Market, by asking too high a price for her bitterleaf stew. Includes a recipe for a version of bitterleaf stew.

Shadows Cast By Stars

To escape a government that needs antigens in aboriginal blood to stop a plague, sixteen-year-old Cassandra and her family flee to the Island, where she not only gets help in communicating with the spirit world, she learns she has been chosen to be their voice and instrument.

Shannen and the Dream for a School

Presents the true story of Shannen Koostachin and the people of Attawapiskat, a Cree community just below the Arctic Circle, who have been fighting for a new school since 1979, when a fuel spill contaminated their original school building.

Soonchild

In the cold north, when Sixteen-Face John, a shaman, learns that his first child, a soonchild, cannot hear the World Songs that inspire all newborns from their mother’s wombs, he sets out on a quest that takes him through many lifetimes and many shape-shifts, as well as encounters with beasts, demons and a mysterious benevolent owl spirit, Ukpika, who is linked to John’s past.

Turtle Island Alphabet

Gerald Hausman has spent more than 20 years studying, collecting, and narrating Native American stories. In a collection of symbols and images central to Native American culture, he offers a lyrical, poetic work which reaffirms the view that Native Americans once held of the land. Illustrations.

Rabbit’s Snow Dance

A hip and hilarious fable perfect for wintertime

Rabbit loves the winter. He knows a dance, using a traditional Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow–even in springtime! The other animals of the forest don’t want early snow, but Rabbit doesn’t listen to them. Instead, he sings and dances until more and more snow falls. But how much snow is too much, and will Rabbit know when to stop?

This stylish and oh-so-funny story is a modern take on a traditional Native American fable from master storytellers Joseph and James Bruchac.

The Horse And The Plains Indians

The image of a Native American on horseback has become ingrained in the American consciousness. But the Plains Indians and the horse were not always inseparable. Once, Native Americans used dogs to help carry their goods, and even after the Spaniards introduced the horse to the Americas, horses were considered so valuable that the Spanish would not allow the Indians to have them. But soon horses escaped from Spanish settlements, and Native Americans quickly learned how valuable the horse could be as a hunting mount, beast of burden, and military steed. Follow the story of this transformative partnership, starting in the early sixteenth century and continuing today.

The Man Who Dreamed of Elk-Dogs

The story of how horses first appeared to the tribes of the American Plains. In his final collection of “stories from the tipi,” Goble features a collection of 23 traditional stories from the Blackfoot, Lakota, Assiniboin, Pawnee, and Cheyenne nations. This book features a foreword by Lauren “Candy” Waukau-Villagomez, an educator and author of works on the oral traditions and storytelling of the North American tribes.