Native American Books for Kids

We recently finished up our first unit study! It was on Native Americans and we learned quite a lot! My kids loved all of the activities we created and especially loved all the books we read! We lean more towards literature-based learning in our homeschool (instead of textbooks or worksheets), and obviously hands-on learning. For this unit, we visited one of our favorite stores, the Used Book Superstore, and picked up 24 books for $55! (And got $15 in "Bob's Bucks.") Can't beat that! But we also visited our local library and used some books that we already had on hand from previous trips to the bookstore. We have quite a collection on this subject now and I know they will be read many times in the upcoming years.

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We read a few different types of books, but they all fall into the "living books" category.

Chapter Books:
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris (used with our Moving Beyond the Page curriculum)
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh (used with our Progeny Press literature guide)
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Some of our favorite books for this unit were written by Joseph Bruchac.

Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons (we found this printable from Rhythm of the Home - the link to the original post is not working, which is why I directed you to the printable)
The Earth under Sky Bear's Feet: Native American Poems of the Land - We love reading poems during tea time!
Between Earth & Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places
Arrow over the Door (chapter book)
Native American Animal Stories
The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story
The Trail of Tears (Step into Reading)
Children of the Longhouse
Eagle Song (chapter book)
The Warriors

Books about Native American children
Children of the Earth and Sky: Five Stories About Native American Children by Stephen Krensky
Children of the Wind and Water: Five Stories About Native American Children by Stephen Krensky

Encounter by Jane Yolen. I suggest reading this book with Morning Girl, as it is about the same tribe (Taino).

Books by Gloria Dominic - These were my sons favorite! He loved the artwork and these stories kept him very interested. 

Sunflower's Promise: A Zuni Legend
Brave Bear and the Ghosts: A Sioux Legend
Coyote and the Grasshoppers: A Pomo Legend
First Woman and the Strawberry: A Cherokee Legend
Red Hawk and the Sky Sisters: A Shawnee Legend
Song of the Hermit Thrush: An Iroquois Legend

Coyote Places the Stars by Harriet Peck Taylor - Goes well with Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back. This story tells of how the constellations were named.

The Very First Americans by Cara Ashrose - Simple book to introduce children to Native American tribes and culture.

If you Lived with... Is a fantastic series that we plan to continue reading! These books were so informative and were great resources on learning about different tribes. I only wish they had more of them!

If You Lived With The Cherokees
If You Lived With The Iroquois
If You Lived With The Hopi Indians
If You Lived With The Indians Of The Northwest Coast
If You Lived With The Sioux Indians

A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry - Was a story about a local river. I knew about this issue, since we learned about it in school. It was one of the ways we incorporated science into our lessons and even went down to the river to check it out.

The True Story of Pocahontas by Lucille Recht Penner

Our absolute favorite books for this unit study were written by Paul Goble. He has written over 30 books that depict the life and stories of plains tribes Native Americans. We have not read every single one, but we intend to! Each one is fantastic, especially to learn from! Many of the titles you will probably recognize from seeing in school or at the library.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
The Gift of the Sacred Dog
Buffalo Woman
All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts about Nature
Dream Wolf

The books written by Terri Cohlene were another series of legends that Munchkin loved. His favorite was Turquoise Boy and it inspired many sensory bins and art activities.

Dancing Drum: A Cherokee Legend
Turquoise Boy: A Navajo Legend
Clamshell Boy: A Makah Legend
Ka-ha-si and the Loon: An Eskimo Legend
Quillworker: A Cheyenne Legend
Little Firefly: An Algonquian Legend

Cherokee Stories
The First Strawberries retold by Joseph Bruchac
Sequoyah's Talking Leaves by Mary Dodson Wade

Northwest Coast
Song of Sedna by Robert D. San Souci
The Last American Rainforest: Tongass by Shelley Gill
Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott
The Boy Who Dreamed of an Acorn by Leigh Casler and illustrated by Shonto Begay

Pawnee Stories
The Mud Pony: A Traditional Skidi Pawnee Tale by Caron Lee Cohen and illustrated by Shonto Begay

Choctaw Stories
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship & Freedom by Tim Tingle

Navajo Stories
Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story by Shonto Begay
The Magic of Spider Woman by Lois Duncan and illustrated by Shonto Begay
How the Stars Fell into the Sky: A Navajo Legend Jerrie Oughton

Lakota
Older children might enjoy some books written by Joseph M. Marshall III, such as The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living and The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History.

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