Children's Book Suggestions | Native American Heritage Month 2026

Some of our favorite books by Indigenous authors from 2025. For more books, view our lists from 2024 and 2023 (picture books and chapter books) or browse the library catalog.

In our nonfiction section, Native American history is shelved in 973.0497, traditional stories in 299.7, biographies by subject last name in 921, and languages in 497.

More great books are honored in even years with the American Indian Library Association's Youth Literature Award.

Updated January 30, 2026
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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My friend May
Flett, Julie
Paper Book
From the winner of the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Prize and the American Indian Youth Literature Award I'd like to tell you a rather true story about a big black cat who started out gray. Her name was May. Margaux and her cat May...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Bud finds her gift
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass comes a beautiful and lushly illustrated tale celebrating gratitude, reciprocity, and finding our place in the natural world, ideal for sharing with the youngest readers. When young Bud sees people...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

The gift of the great buffalo
Lindstrom, Carole
Paper Book
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award Winner In this beautiful and dramatic story, bestselling author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Aly McKnight show readers how life was lived by Indigenous communities,...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

Firefly season
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Written by the award-winning, bestselling author of Jingle Dancer, Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee), and filled with tender illustrations by Kate Gardiner (Nipmuck), this unforgettable, warmhearted picture book is for family and the friends who become family. Piper...

Picture Book (Age 4-8)

The summer of the bone horses
Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk
A Lakota child spends a summer with grandparents at their home on the Rosebud Reservation in this young chapter book, illustrated in full-color This charming chapter book follows a present-day Lakota child connecting with extended family, embracing new experiences, and growing...

Bridging Fiction (Grades 2-4)

Wolf Club
Bird, James
The Breakfast Club meets Hatchet in this middle-grade novel about three kids who ditch detention to search for an elusive white wolf, who may have the magical powers they need to face their challenges and heal their hearts. A story of adventure and friendship from...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)

The blossoming summer
Johnson, Anna Rose
Paper Book
When English thirteen-year-old Rosemary is evacuated to her grandmother in America at the start of World War II, she uncovers the family secret--they are Anishinaabe and passing as white. Life in England is all Rosemary has ever known. . . but as WWII changes the world, no one's...

Young Teen Fiction (Grades 5-7)


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