Social Justice Books

Critically reviewed selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Nimoshom and His Bus

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Several people wrote to tell me about Nimoshom and His Bus. Due out in 2018 from Highwater Press, the story is by Penny M. Thomas (Cree-Ojibway background), with illustrations by Karen Hibbard. Books like Nimoshom and His Bus provide Native children with mirrors that non-Native children find in […]

The Water Walker

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Often, people write to ask me for books about Native people who are activists, or who might be involved in, or organizing, actions of some kind to protect their nations or homelands. Joanne Robertson’s book is one I’m happy to recommend. Robertson’s The Water Walker, published […]

Cheyenne Again

Reviewed by: Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Last year, Debbie and I analyzed several picture books about children in Indian boarding school for a book chapter. We intentionally left out of our chapter a fairly popular 1993 book, Cheyenne Again, by European-American writer Eve Bunting, illustrated by Dine artist Irving Toddy. I recently […]

Kiska

Reviewed by: Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Published by Leapfrog Press, John Smelcer’s Kiska was released in November of 2017. I’ll start by saying I do not recommend Kiska. Back in September when I received an advanced reader copy of Smelcer’s book, I tweeted as I read it. Last […]

When I Was Eight

Reviewed by: Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: The most powerful stories are those that pull you in such that you feel the emotions of the character(s) in the story and when you come to the end, you let loose a big sigh. When I Was Eight did that to […]

NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women

Reviewed by: Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: #NotYourPrincess is one of those books that is so stunning in so many ways, it is kind of hard to decide where to start! Let’s start with the title. The hashtag title is perfection. It boldly says that Native women are here […]