Children's Book Suggestions | Native American Heritage Month

This list shares some of our favorite chapter books for readers in Grades 2-8.

For younger readers, see our Native American Heritage Month Scavenger Hunt book list.

Traditional Indigenous stories are shelved in Children's Nonfiction under the number 299.7

Information about federally registered tribes both historically and in the present day is shelved in Children's Nonfiction under the number 973.0497


Updated October 21, 2023
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County) Oregon City Public Library
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The used-to-be best friend /
Quigley, Dawn,
Paper Book
American Indian Youth Literature Award: Middle Grade Honor Book! Hello/Boozhoo--meet Jo Jo Makoons! Full of pride, joy, and plenty of humor, this first book in an all-new chapter book series by Dawn Quigley celebrates a spunky young Ojibwe girl who loves who she is. Jo Jo...

A great choice for fans of Junie B. Jones and Ramona Quimby. (Ojibwe, Bridging Fiction Grades 2-4)

Ancestor approved :
Smith, Cynthia Leitich.
Paper Book
Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride. Native families from Nations across the...

A collection of short stories by a variety of Indigenous authors, each one from the point of view of a child attending an intertribal powwow in Michigan. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The storyteller
Hobson, Brandon
Paper Book
From National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson, a kaleidoscopic middle-grade adventure that mixes the anxieties, friendships, and wonders of a Cherokee boy's life with Cherokee history and lore. Ziggy has ANXIETY. Partly this is because of the way his mind works, and how overwhelmed he...

A tween boy's search for his mother is aided by animals and other beings from Cherokee lore, highlighting the epidemic of missing women in Native American communities. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Jim Thorpe : original All-American
Bruchac, Joseph
Paper Book
Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. He played professional football, Major League Baseball, and won Olympic gold medals in track & field. But his life wasn't an easy one. Born on the Sac and Fox Reservation in 1887, he encountered much family tragedy, and was sent as a young...

A lightly fictionalized biography of Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe, written in the first person to convey the thrilling sports action as Jim succeeds at football, baseball, and track and field. (Sac and Fox, Children's Nonfiction Ages 10-14)

The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Paper Book
For use in schools and libraries only. Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.

A classic from a National Book Award winning novelist, this is a great choice for fans of Little House on the Prairie who are interested in learning more about upper Midwest life in the nineteenth century. (Ojibwe, Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Rabbit chase
LaPense?e, Elizabeth
Paper Book
Anishinaabe culture and storytelling meet Alice in Wonderland in this coming-of-age graphic novel that explores Indigenous and gender issues through a fresh yet familiar looking glass. Aimée, a non-binary Anishinaabe middle-schooler, is on a class trip to offer gifts to ...

A two-spirit Anishinaabe tween follows a white rabbit into the woods on a class field trip in this Indigenous take on Alice in Wonderland. (Young Teen Graphic Novels Grades 5-7)

Powwow : a celebration through song and dance
Pheasant-Neganigwane, Karen
Paper Book
★ "Clearly organized and educational--an incredibly useful tool for both school and public libraries." --School Library Journal, starred review Powwowis a celebration of Indigenous song and dance. Journey through the history of powwow culture in North America, from its origins to the...

A great primer on the history and traditions of contemporary North American powwow culture. (Children's Nonfiction Age 9-12)


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