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Indigenous Voices

September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. These are a selection of Kid and Teen books written by Indigenous authors that celebrate Indigenous culture and teach about Indigenous history and Orange Shirt Day.

This list is far from exhaustive and we are always open to including new titles. If you have recommendations for Kid or Teen books by Indigenous authors to add, please contact us.

Minnow

- Willie Poll , Bailey Macabre

Children's paperback $16.99
Reader Reward Price: $15.29

A young Indigenous water protector named Minnow goes on an underwater journey; learning from our ocean-living relatives. When she returns to the surface, she gathers her community to help make a change.This story is told in lyrical rhyme and helps children gain a better respect for Indigenous water and land protectors, the environment and world around them, and helps show children activism at an early age.

Phoenix Gets Greater

- Marty Wilson-Trudeau , Megan Kyak-Monteith , Phoenix Wilson

Children's hardcover $21.95
Reader Reward Price: $19.76

Phoenix loves to play with dolls and marvel at pretty fabrics. Most of all, he loves to dance-ballet, Pow Wow dancing, or just swirling and twirling around his house. Sometimes Phoenix gets picked on and he struggles with feeling different, but his mom and brother are proud of him. With their help, Phoenix learns about Two Spirit/Niizh Manidoowag people in Anishinaabe culture and just how special he is.

Based on the childhood experiences of her son, Phoenix, Marty Wilson-Trudeau demonstrates the difference that a loving and supportive family can make.

Smile So Big

- Sunshine Quem Tenasco

Children's hardcover $21.99
Reader Reward Price: $19.79

A magical mirror helps a young girl understand her true beauty in this new picture book from the creators of Nibi's Water Song.

When Challa comes home in tears after being teased about her smile, her mom gives her a special gift. It's a magic mirror -- shiny, beaded and beautiful -- passed on from her mom, and from her djo djo before her.

Challa's mom tells her that when anyone looks into the mirror, they will see their true self. There's just one rule: Everyone has to say what they see in the reflection.

At first the mirror seems to work for everyone but her. Challa keeps looking and looking. The more beauty she sees in herself, the happier she feels, and the longer she looks into the mirror, the more beauty she sees, until finally Challa sees so much beauty, she can't contain her smile!

This special story, from award-winning activist Sunshine Quem Tenasco and artist Chief Lady Bird, introduces readers to concepts of self-acceptance, self-empowerment, and recognition of the unique beauty that comes from within.

The Stone Child

- David A Robertson

Children's hardcover $21.99
Reader Reward Price: $19.79

It's a race against time to save Eli, in this third book in the award-winning, Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series. 

After discovering a near-lifeless Eli at the base of the Great Tree, Morgan knows she doesn't have much time to save him. And it will mean asking for help -- from friends old and new. Racing against the clock, and with Arik and Emily at her side, Morgan sets off to follow the trail away from the Great Tree to find Eli's soul before it's too late. As they journey deep into the northern woods, a place they've been warned never to enter, they face new challenges and life-threatening attacks from strange and horrifying creatures. But a surprise ally comes to their aid, and Morgan finds the strength to focus on what's most important: saving her brother's life. 

Storyteller Skye

- Lindsay Christina King , Carolyn Frank

Children's paperback $16.99
Reader Reward Price: $15.29

Have you ever wondered why Rabbit has such long ears? Or why Raccoon is wearing a mask? In this collection of funny and unique short stories, young Skye enlightens us&nbspin a number of Indigenous teachings, passed down to her from her&nbspOjibway Grandfather.&nbspThrough her natural gift of storytelling, Skye encourages other children&nbspto embrace the art and become storytellers, too!  

Together We Drum, Our Hearts Beat as One

- Willie Poll , Chief Lady Bird

Children's hardcover $19.95
Reader Reward Price: $17.96

In this beautifully illustrated book, a determined young Anishnaabe girl in search of adventure goes on a transformative journey into a forest on her traditional territory. She is joined by a chorus of her ancestors in red dresses, who tell her they remember what it was like to be carefree and wild, too. Soon, though, the girl is challenged by a monster named Hate, who envelops her in a cloud of darkness. She climbs a mountain to evade the monster, and, with the help of her matriarchs and the power of Thunderbird, the monster is held at bay. Together the young girl and her ancestors beat their drums in song and support, giving the girl the confidence she needs to become a changemaker in the future, capable of fending off any monster in her way.

Together We Drum, Our Hearts Beat as One is a moving and powerful book about Indigenous resistance and ancestral connection.

We Belong to the Drum

- Sandra Lamouche , Azby Whitecalf

Children's hardcover $21.95
Reader Reward Price: $19.76

The drum represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth. We all belong to the earth and we all belong to the drum.

Nikosis grew up going to powwows with his family, happily immersed in music, dance and the sounds of the drum. But when he starts going to daycare, he doesn't feel like he belongs. Nikosis cries every time his mother leaves him in the unfamiliar environment until, one day, she and the teachers use drums to help Nikosis find connection and comfort.

Inspired by her son's experience--and her family's love of powwow music and dance--Indigenous educator and champion hoop dancer Sandra Lamouche shares this uplifting true story of the transformative effects of culturally safe and inclusive early childhood education.

Walking in Two Worlds

- Wab Kinew

Young adult hardcover $21.99
Reader Reward Price: $19.79

An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series.

In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.

Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.

But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.

On the Trapline

- David A Robertson , Julie Flett

Children's hardcover $21.99
Reader Reward Price: $19.79

A picture book celebrating Indigenous culture and traditions. The Governor General Award--winning team behind When We Were Alone shares a story that honors our connections to our past and our grandfathers and fathers.

WINNER OF THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD

A boy and Moshom, his grandpa, take a trip together to visit a place of great meaning to Moshom. A trapline is where people hunt and live off the land, and it was where Moshom grew up. As they embark on their northern journey, the child repeatedly asks his grandfather, "Is this your trapline?" Along the way, the boy finds himself imagining what life was like two generations ago -- a life that appears to be both different from and similar to his life now. This is a heartfelt story about memory, imagination and intergenerational connection that perfectly captures the experience of a young child's wonder as he is introduced to places and stories that hold meaning for his family.

I Sang You Down from the Stars

- Tasha Spillett-Sumner , Michaela Goade

Children's hardcover $19.95
Reader Reward Price: $17.96

Manitoba Book Award winner

A New York Times and CBC Books bestselling #OwnVoices love letter from an Indigenous mother to her new baby, new from celebrated author Tasha Spillett-Sumner and 2021 Caldecott winning illustrator Michaela Goade, that honors the beauty of a little one's arrival

Drawing from Indigenous creation stories and traditional teachings and illustrated in dazzling watercolors, I Sang You Down from the Stars is a tribute to the bond between mother and child.

The narrator gathers gifts for a medicine bundle in anticipation of her baby's birth; a fluffy white eagle plume, bunches of cedar and sage, a quilted star blanket, and a small stone from the river. When the baby arrives, the mother shares the bundle with her child and reveals the importance of each item inside. But when her family comes to meet the new arrival, she realizes the baby arrived with gifts of its own and that the baby is also a sacred bundle: a baby bundle.

Writing in simple, lyrical text, author Tasha Spillett-Sumner draws from her cultural heritage in order to celebrate Indigenous traditions and the universal nature of a mother's love, with stunning art by the 2021 Caldecott medal winner for We Are Water Protectors, Michela Goade.

We Are Water Protectors

- Carole Lindstrom, Michaela Goade

Children's hardcover $24.50
Reader Reward Price: $22.05

From author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Michaela Goade comes a New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Medal winning picture book that honors Indigenous-led movements across the world. Powerfully written and gorgeously illustrated, We Are Water Protectors, issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth's water from harm and curruption--inviting young readers everywhere to join the fight.

Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all . . .

When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth
And poison her people's water, one young water protector
Takes a stand to defend Earth's most sacred resource.

The fight continues with Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, the must-read companion book to We Are Water Protectors. Written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Bridget George, it tells the story of real-life water protectors, Autumn Peltier and her great-aunt Josephine Mandamin, two Indigenous Rights Activists who have inspired a tidal wave of change.

Be a Good Ancestor

- Leona Prince , Gabrielle Prince , Carla Joseph

Children's hardcover $21.95
Reader Reward Price: $19.76

Rooted in Indigenous teachings, this stunning picture book encourages readers of all ages to consider the ways in which they live in connection to the world around them and to think deeply about their behaviors.

Addressing environmental issues, animal welfare, self-esteem and self-respect, and the importance of community, the authors deliver a poignant and universal message in an accessible way: Be a good ancestor to the world around you. Thought-provoking stanzas offer a call to action for each one of us to consider how we affect future generations. Every decision we make ripples out, and we can affect the world around us by thinking deeply about those decisions.

Beyond the Orange Shirt Story

- Phyllis Webstad

Children's paperback $19.99
Reader Reward Price: $17.99

Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by Phyllis Webstad's family and others, that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences. In this book, Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors share their stories authentically and in their own words. Phyllis Webstad is a Residential School Survivor and founder of the Orange Shirt Day movement. Phyllis has carefully selected stories to help Canadians educate themselves and gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of the Residential School System. Readers of this book will become more aware of a number of challenges faced by many Indigenous peoples in Canada. With this awareness comes learning and unlearning, understanding, acceptance, and change. Phyllis's hope is that all Canadians honour the lives and experiences of Survivors and their families as we go Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

With Our Orange Hearts

- Phyllis Webstad , Emily Kewageshig

Children's paperback $10.99
Reader Reward Price: $9.89

"Every child matters, including you and me. With our orange hearts, we walk in harmony." As a young child, your little world can be full of big emotions. In this book, I, Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, show that sharing my story with the world helped me to process my feelings. My true orange shirt story encourages young children to open their hearts and listen as others share their feelings, and to be more comfortable sharing their own feelings too. Listening is a first step towards reconciliation. It's never too early to start.

Treaty Words

- Aime Craft, Luke Swinson

Children's hardcover $16.95
Reader Reward Price: $15.26

The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty.

On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis's home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen--to hear both the sounds and the silences, and so to learn her place in Creation. Most importantly, he teaches her about treaties--the bonds of reciprocity and renewal that endure for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow. 

Accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Luke Swinson and an author's note at the end, Aimée Craft affirms the importance of understanding an Indigenous perspective on treaties in this evocative book that is essential for readers of all ages.

This is a selection of our current Indigenous Voices titles. To find other titles or authors, or just to browse, please use the search box.

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