Telling Indigenous Stories for Truth, Joy and Imagination

Updated September 10, 2025
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Circle of love
Gray Smith, Monique
Paper Book
Everyone is welcome in the circle. In this warmhearted book, we join Molly at the Intertribal Community Center, where she introduces us to people she knows and loves: her grandmother and her grandmother's wife, her uncles and their baby, her cousins, and her treasured friends...
Mischief making : Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, art and the seriousness of play
Levell, Nicola
Paper Book
In a gorgeously illustrated exploration of the art of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Mischief Making disproves any notion that play is frivolous. Deploying mischievous tactics, Yahgulanaas shines a spotlight on serious topics. Expressive and exuberant, comic and imaginative: these...
Take us to your chief : and other stories
Taylor, Drew Hayden
Paper Book
A forgotten Haudenosaunee social song beams into the cosmos like a homing beacon for interstellar visitors. A computer learns to feel sadness and grief from the history of atrocities committed against First Nations. A young Native man discovers the secret to time travel in ancient petroglyphs....
William Shakespeare's As you like it : a radical retelling
Cardinal, Cliff
Paper Book
The title of William Shakespeare's As You Like It holds a double meaning that teasingly suggests the play can please all tastes. But is that possible? With his subversive updating of the Bard's classic, Indigenous creator and cultural provocateur Cliff Cardinal seeks to find out. The show...
Never whistle at night : an Indigenous dark fiction anthology : are you ready to be un-settled?
Hawk, Shane
Other
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: "Are you ready to be un-settled?" Featuring stories by: Norris Black * Amber Blaeser-Wardzala * Phoenix Boudreau * Cherie Dimaline * Carson Faust * Kelli Jo Ford...
JAJ : a Haida manga
Yahgulanaas, Michael Nicoll
Paper Book
With gorgeous imagery, visual artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas brings to life the tumultuous history of first contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples and the early colonization by the Europeans of the northern West Coast. Yahgulanaas uses a blend of traditional and modern art,...
Métis like me
Hilderman, Tasha
Paper Book
A CBC and Globe and Mail Bestseller! Whether or not you're Metis, there's so much to experience and learn about this amazing Indigenous culture - take a picture book journey into Metis crafts, music and cooking with friends who love to share. Are you...
The shaman's apprentice
Kunuk, Zacharias
Paper Book
Inspired by award-winning Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk's short film of the same name, The Shaman's Apprentice tells the story of a young shaman in training who must face her first test--a trip to the underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member...
The power of style : how fashion and beauty are being used to reclaim cultures
Allaire, Christian
Paper Book
Style is not just the clothes on our backs--it is self-expression, representation, and transformation. As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he sought out for inspiration. Now the Fashion and Style Writer for...
From the rez to the runway : forging my path in fashion : a memoir
Allaire, Christian
Paper Book
Growing up on the Nipissing First Nation reserve in Northern Ontario, Christian Allaire wanted to work in the fashion industry, a future that seemed like a remote, and unlikely, dream He was first introduced to style and design through his culture's traditional Ojibwe powwow regalia-...
Early days : Indigenous art from the McMichael
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Canadian Museum Association award for Outstanding Achievement in Research A landmark publication bringing together more than seventy voices illuminating the rich array of Indigenous art held by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Under...
Nattiq and the land of statues : a story from the Arctic
Landry, Barbara
Paper Book
In this charming story that includes words in Inuktitut, a ringed seal returns to the Arctic with stories of discovery and friendship. A ringed seal, known in Inuktitut as ᓇᑦᑎᖅ nattiq, has returned to his Arctic home after a long journey south. His friends -- a...
Who We Are Four Questions For a Life and a Nation
Sinclair, Murray.
Digital file
Named a Book to Read This Fall by CBC Books and the Toronto Star * One of Indigo's Most Anticipated Books and Top 100 Books of the 2024 * An Audible Best Book of 2024 * One of Kobo CA's Best Biography and Memoir Ebooks of the Year * One of CBC's Best Canadian Nonfiction of...
Moon of the turning leaves : a novel
Rice, Waubgeshig
Paper Book
Borders
King, Thomas
Paper Book
A stunning graphic-novel adaptation based on the work of one of Canada's most revered and bestselling authors On a trip to visit his older sister, who has moved away from the family home on the reserve to Salt Lake City, a young boy and his mother are posed a simple question with a not-so...
Finding my dance
Thundercloud, Ria
Paper Book
In her debut picture book, 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. At four years old, Ria Thundercloud was brought into the powwow circle, ready to dance in the...
Be a good ancestor
Prince, Leona
Paper Book
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,...
The ghost collector
Mills, Allison
Paper Book
Ghosts aren't meant to stick around forever... Shelly and her grandmother catch ghosts. In their hair. Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven't transitioned yet; it's their job to help the ghosts along their journey. When Shelly's mom dies suddenly,...
He who dreams
Florence, Melanie
Paper Book
Juggling soccer, school, friends and family leaves John with little time for anything else. One day at the local community center, following the sound of drums, he stumbles into an Indigenous dance class. Before he knows what's happening, John finds himself stumbling through beginner...
Warrior Girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller! Six Starred Reviews! #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen...
21 Things You Need to Know about Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation about Dismantling the Indian ACT
Joseph, Bob
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of 21 Things(tm) You May Not Know About the Indian Act comes a powerful new book on dismantling the Indian Act and advancing Indigenous self-governance. Bob Joseph's 21 Things(tm) You May Not Know About the Indian Act captured the attention...
Into the bright open : a Secret garden remix
Dimaline, Cherie
Paper Book
A Governor General's Literary Award in Young People's Literature Finalist "Aching and emotionally immersive. ... A rich and verdant revival of a classic." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review A newly orphaned girl is sent to the Canadian wilderness to...
Beautiful beautiful
Reid, Brandon
Paper Book
Imbued with passion, creativity and insight, Brandon Reid's debut novel is a wonderfully creative coming-of-age story exploring indigeneity, masculinity and cultural tradition. Twelve-year-old Derik Mormin travels with his father and a family friend to Bella Bella for his grandfather's...
She falls again
Deerchild, Rosanna
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2025 INDIGENOUS VOICES AWARD CBC BOOKS 'CANADIAN POETRY COLLECTIONS TO WATCH FOR IN 2024' CBC BOOKS 'BOOKS TO READ IN HONOUR OF THE NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION' The Sky Woman has returned to bring...
Broken circle : the dark legacy of Indian residential schools : a memoir
Fontaine, Theodore
Paper Book
Now an approved curriculum resource for grade 9-12 students in British Columbia and Manitoba. Theodore (Ted) Fontaine lost his family and freedom just after his seventh birthday, when his parents were forced to leave him at an Indian residential school by order of the Roman Catholic Church and the...
Carpe fin : a Haida manga
Yahgulanaas, Michael Nicoll
Paper Book
"The ragged edges of the temperate rainforest reach far out onto an island in the western seas. It is a place where one chooses to go ahead or turn back..." In a prequel to the award-winning Red: A Haida Manga, acclaimed artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas blends Asian manhwa/manga...

September 30th is Orange Shirt Day. It\'s also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day in honour of the Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada. Phyllis Webstad, the creator of Orange Shirt Day, curated this list of titles for youth to read.

Sept. 30 is observed as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. CBC Books has curated this list of books that can encourage deeper reflection, learning and public dialogue on the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

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