Picture Books: Encouraging Positive Change

The following recommended titles offer a basis for a variety of approaches to discussing the concept of positive change with children. From highlighting positive behaviors and their personal and wider-reaching impacts to introducing characters who respond to challenges both big and small with a positive outlook, perseverance, or courage, Native creators present narratives that encourage young readers to contemplate the positive qualities within themselves that they can cultivate as they grow.

Book cover of You Hold Me Up

You Hold Me Up

Author

Monique Gray Smith (Cree, Lakota, and Scottish)

Illustrator

Danielle Daniel (Algonquin)

Summary

This book highlights the many positive ways that people can support one another within families and the larger community, such as sharing, singing, and playing together. Author Monique Gray Smith wrote You Hold Me Up to prompt a dialogue among young people, their care providers, and educators about reconciliation and the importance of the connections children make with others. The narrative focuses on positive behaviors we can engage in together, such as listening, and sharing, and how these behaviors strengthen our bonds with our community and loved ones.

Book cover of Hungry Johnny

Hungry Johnny

Author

Cheryl Minnema (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)

Illustrator

Wesley Ballinger (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe)

Summary

Johnny can’t wait to eat what his grandmother is preparing, but the food that she’s making is for a banquet at the community center. Johnny’s appetite grows, but he keeps having to wait—to get to the banquet, for the prayer to be said, for the elders to eat first. By the end of the book, Johnny learns patience, respect, and how to share. Rather than simply modeling good behavior, Johnny’s grandmother gently explains why we treat elders with respect, and why we sometimes have to wait for what we want.

Book cover of Kunu’s Basket

Kunu’s Basket

Author

Lee DeCora Francis (Penobscot/Ho-Chunk)

Illustrator

Susan Drucker

Summary

Traditionally, the men in Kunu’s family weave baskets from ash strips. Kunu is eager to do the same, but he grows frustrated as he struggles to master the techniques. His grandfather steps in to encourage and assist, patiently walking Kunu through the process of creating and weaving the strips, and reassuring Kunu that it took him seven tries to get his first basket right when his own grandfather taught him to weave. 

Kunu learns the values of patience and perseverance necessary for learning a craft, or making your way through many challenges that arise in life. We see his natural frustration when things don’t go smoothly for him, but also see him learning valuable lessons such as how to step away and calm himself when he gets too frustrated, and how to keep working for something you value no matter how many tries it takes.

Book cover of At The Mountain's Base

At The Mountain’s Base

Author

Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation)

Illustrator

Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva/Scots-Gaelic)

Summary

Inspired by the true story of Ola Mildred “Millie” Rexroat, a WWII Native woman pilot, this is the tale of a family, separated by duty and distance, waiting in their home at the base of a mountain for their loved one to return from war. We see both the family at home, comforting each other, and the pilot in her plane, hoping for peace and to be reunited with her family. The threads of the grandmother’s weaving link the family together in Alvitre’s illustrations.

In circular prose, the story shows the bonds between family members and the support they offer one another, and also celebrates the traditions (such as weaving and cooking) that sustain the family as they wait.

Book cover of Learning My Rights With Mousewoman

Learning My Rights With Mousewoman

Author

Morgan Asoyuf (Ts’msyen Eagle Clan)

Illustrator

Morgan Asoyuf (Ts’msyen Eagle Clan)

Summary

Mousewoman is an important figure in the oral and visual traditions of the Northwest Coast Indigenous cultures. This book features the grandmotherly guide, known for communicating advice and knowledge to children, as Mousewoman encourages children to recognize and celebrate both their rights, and the responsibilities that come with them.

This book sends a message of empowerment to children, reminding them that they have valuable rights—from deserving physical safety and healthy food, to the right to express themselves and to learn about their cultural heritage. The discussion of rights (and of the responsibilities that often come with them) is important to develop children’s confidence and sense of justice.

Book cover of Jingle Dancer

Jingle Dancer

Author

Cynthia Leitich-Smith (Muscogee Nation)

Illustrator

Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

Summary

Jenna loves the tradition of jingle dancing that has been shared over generations in her family and intertribal community. She hopes to dance at the next powwow, but with the day quickly approaching, she has a problem—how will her dress sing if it has no jingles? Jenna borrows one row of jingles from each of three dresses (her great-aunt’s, her older friend’s, and her cousin’s) so that her dress has what it needs and the other dresses can still have their own “voices”.

Throughout this simple story, Jenna demonstrates perseverance as she sets the goal of dancing at the powwow—she practices her dance and is not deterred by the prospect of having to gather her own jingles. She is eager to give back to those who have helped her by dedicating her dance to them.

Book cover of Finding My Dance

Finding My Dance

Author

Ria Thundercloud (Ho-Chunk/Sandia Pueblo)

Illustrator

Kalila J. Fuller

Summary

Professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage. This autobiography demonstrates the journey Ria took to become an International Dancer and Cultural Ambassador in life. In her author’s bio, she explains that “her art is influenced by the women who came before her, reclaiming stories of matriarchs that highlight the resilience and knowledge of Indigenous women.” Readers learn through the text that there are many paths to a professional life, including becoming a dancer.

Book cover of My Heart Fills With Happiness

My Heart Fills With Happiness

Author

Monique Gray Smith (Cree, Lakota, and Scottish)

Illustrator

Julie Flett (Cree-Métis)

Summary

The sun on your face. The smell of warm bannock baking in the oven. Holding the hand of someone you love. What fills your heart with happiness? This board book serves as a reminder for young readers to reflect on and cherish the moments in life that bring us joy.

By giving examples of positive ways to find happiness, and a final page which encourages readers to discuss the different things in life that make them happy, this book provides a basis for engaging children in conversation about what brings them joy in life.

Book cover of When We Are Kind

When We Are Kind

Author

Monique Gray Smith (Cree, Lakota, and Scottish)

Illustrator

Nicole Neidhardt (Diné)

Summary

This gentle, straightforward book gives simple examples of how we can be kind—to others, to the earth, to our pets, and even to ourselves. These examples are then followed up with explorations of how being kind and receiving kindness can make us feel.

In its illustrations of everyday acts of kindness, this book encourages children to think about how they can show kindness to those in their lives, and also to consider why kindness is so important—how do we show and receive kindness and how does this affect our lived experience?

Book cover of Be A Good Ancestor

Be A Good Ancestor

Author

Leona Prince (Lake Babine Nation/Nak’azdli Whu’ten) and Gabrielle Prince (Lake Babine Nation/Nak’azdli Whu’ten)

Illustrator

Carla Joseph (Cree)

Summary

Rooted in Indigenous teachings, this picture book encourages readers 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, this title encourages respect and kindness in our interactions with the planet and with one another. Moreover, the narrative is constructed in such a way that the consequences of our actions are explained from the small-scale to the large.

Conclusion

We hope the preceding title suggestions are useful to educators interested in exploring Native literature that can assist in teaching all students about the concepts of positive change, personal growth, and the cultivation of good character.

Headshot of author Andrea Page

About the Author

Andrea M. Page

Andrea M. Page (Hunkpapa Lakota) is a children’s author, educator and speaker. Her published book, Sioux Code Talkers of World War II (Pelican Publishing 2017) tells the story of seven Native American Code Talkers’ military service in the Pacific Theater. She also writes educator guides for publishers and works on projects for We Need Diverse Books.

Andrea serves as a Board member of the Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) of the NCTE. She is a citizen of the Standing Rock Nation, and lives in Rochester, NY with her husband. Please visit www.WriterAndreaPage.com.

The WNDB team also contributed in compiling information for this list.