A #BookADay for Native American Heritage Month 2024

It’s November again, so time to share my recommendations for a picture book to read each day of Native American Heritage Month. This year I’m back with 30 new titles. Added on to my lists from 2021 & 2022 & 2023, there are now 120 picture books (!) I have recommended for teaching about Native heritage, culture, and peoples. There is no excuse for not including Native representation throughout the year in the books we highlight, recommend, read aloud, and share.

Poster from Penguin School & Library.
Art from *At the Mountain’s Base*.

The National Congress of American Indians explains the purpose of Native American Heritage Month.

“The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.”

Visit my previous year’s posts for more background, resources, links, and information around teaching Native American history, heritage, and contributions – linked at the end of this post.

The research I did for my multicultural children’s literature course in my MLIS program, and what I have learned from Dr. Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children’s Literature, informs the lens I use when evaluating picture books with Indigenous characters. Even with this, being a cultural outsider, I will still make mistakes as I am constantly learning and growing my critical analysis perspectives.

The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), an incredible Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C., has a checklist Worksheet for Selecting Native American Children’s Literature that is also super helpful! It focuses on five main areas of analysis: Authority, Accurate Representation, Tribal Specificity, Language, & Contemporary Life.

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) also has a new initiative supporting Indigenous Reads Rising. It’s a fabulous new resource to ensure you’re getting quality Native representation in your classroom along with advice to support educators.

Support independent bookstores + my work by shopping this list at bookshop.org through my affiliate link!

A #BookADay for Native American Heritage Month 2024

2024 TITLES
This Land: The History of the Land We’re On
Summer’s Magic: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature
Chooch Helped
Métis Like Me
Circle of Love
Wisdom Weavers
Loaf the Cat Goes to the Powwow
Being Home
Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills
The Hawk Shadow
I Am Osage: How Clarence Tinker Became the First Native American Major General
Let’s Go!
Boozhoo! Hello!
Too Much: My Great Big Native Family
Can You Hear the Plants Speak?
When the Stars Came Home
Click, Clack! SMACK! A Cherokee Stickball Story
Grampy’s Chair
Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition)
What’s in a Bead?
Dance Fast
It’s Powwow Time!
Why We Dance: A Story of Hope and Healing
On Powwow Day
Kindred Spirits / Shilombish Ittibachvffa
Mnoomin Maan’gowing / The Gift of Mnoomin
When We Gather (Ostadahlisiha): A Cherokee Tribal Feast
At Our Table
Winter’s Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature
An Anishinaabe Christmas