Reviewed by Debbie Reese
Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature
Book Author: Laurel Goodluck
Back in 2016 I read a comic called The Wool of Jonesy — and I loved it. Since then I’ve followed Jonathan Nelson’s work. Again and again, his words and art are precisely what I want Native kids to have. Then in 2022, I read Laurel Goodluck’s Forever Cousins. Her storytelling hits me like Jonathan’s does. Her books are the ones I want all Native kids to have. He did the illustrations for Forever Cousins. If you’ve participated in webinars I do online, you know that I talk about their book a lot. And now, they’re partnered up again in Yáadilá! Good Grief!
Imagine me opening Yáadilá! Good Grief! Then imagine my smile as I see the sheep in the endpaper art! Something about Nelson’s illustrations of sheep appeals to me in ways I can’t explain. There aren’t any on the cover (shown above) but sheep are a significant part of the story Goodluck and Nelson give to us. On the cover, you see a family (a grandmother, parents, and two children). Continue reading on American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Find more recommended books on this topic on our American Indians and our Grandparents booklists.
Yáadilá! by Laurel Goodluck
Published by HarperCollins Publishers on January 14, 2025
Genres: American Indians First Nations Metis Inuit, Grandparents and Elders
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Grade K, Grades 1-2
ISBN: 9780063274402
Review Source: American Indians in Children's Literature
Also by this author: Forever Cousins, Rock Your Mocs
Publisher's Synopsis:
Bahe and Dezba are helping their grandmother, Nali, move from her sheep camp home to their house. The family is packing up, carrying heavy boxes, and settling into a new life together, which isn't always easy. At every frustration, they throw up their hands and exclaim, "Yaadila!" Good grief!
Bahe sees that this big change is hardest for Nali. But he has a secret plan. Whatever can he be doing with a bucket of water, all that yarn, and Dezba's dollhouse?
In this heartwarming and quintessentially Navajo (Diné) story, author Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian) and illustrator Jonathan Nelson (Diné) together show a big change for an Elder made easier with a creative gesture of love and care.
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