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TEACHER RESOURCES
Native American Reading List
This reading list includes books at a variety of reading levels. These books can be used as independent reading, to supplement a text lesson, as a preview or follow-up to a unit of study, or as a research paper source.
The suggested books are listed in the following categories: picture books, chapter books-middle grades, chapter books-high school-adult, story collections-all grade levels, resource books-elementary/middle school, resource books-high school-adult, crafts/games/art-all levels.
The books listed here have been reviewed and used successfully in lessons and activities across all grade levels.
PICTURE BOOKS
The picture books suggested here are beautifully illustrated and rich in historical information. They can be used at primary or upper grade levels.
WHERE THE BUFFALOES BEGIN, Olaf Baker, Puffin, 1981
THE EARTH UNDER SKYBEAR’S FEET—Native American Poems of the Land, Joseph Bruchac, The Putnam and Grosset Group, 1995
THE FIRST STRAWBERRIES—A Cherokee Story, retold by Joseph Bruchac, Puffin Books, 1998
GLUSKABE AND THE FOUR WISHES—retold by Joseph Bruchac, Penguin Books, 1995
THE MUD PONY—retold by Caron Lee Cohen, Scholastic, 1988
THE LEGEND OF BLUEBONNET—retold by Tomie de Paola, Scholastic, 1983
THE LEGEND OF THE INDIAN PAINTBRUSH—retold by Tomie de Paola, Scholastic, 1988
COYOTE AND THE GRASSHOPPERS—retold by Gloria Dominic, Troll Communications, 1996
FULL MOON STORIES, Eagle Walking Turtle,Hyperion Books, 1997
THE LONG MARCH—Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Tricycle Press, 1998
BUFFALO WOMAN—Paul Goble, Aladdin Paperbacks, 1986
GRANDFATHER’S STORY OF NAVAJO MONSTERS—Richard Red Hawk, Sierra Oaks Publishing Company, 1988
ISHI’S TALE OF LIZARD—translated by Leanne Hinton, Harper Collins, 1992
MY ANCESTOR’S VILLAGE, Roberta Labastida, Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2004
BROTHER EAGLE, SISTER SKY—A Message from Chief Seattle, illustrated by Susan Jeffers, Puffin Books, 1991
FIRE RACE—A Karuk Coyote Tale, retold by Jonathan London, Scholastic, 1993
COYOTE GOES WALKING, retold by Tom Pohrt, Harper Collins, 1995
THE DRAGON FLY’S TALE, Kristina Rodanas, Clarion 1992
TWO BEAR CUBS—A Miwok Legend from California’s Yosemite Valley, retold by Robert D. San Souci, Yosemite Association, 1997
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHUMASH—retold by Monique Sonoquie, Indigenous Youth Foundation, Inc., 1999
COYOTE PLACES THE STARS, Harriet Peck Taylor, Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997
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CHAPTER BOOKS—MIDDLE GRADES
THE ARROW OVER THE DOOR, Joseph Bruchac, Dial Books, 1998
WHEN THE CHEENO HOWLS—Native American Tales of Terror, Joseph and James Bruchac, Walker and Company, 1998
PASQUALA—The Story of a California Indian Girl, Gail Faber and Michele Lasagna, Magpie Publications, 1990
THE BOY WHO MAKE DRAGONFLY—A Zuni Myth, retold by Tony Hillerman, University of New Mexico Press, 1972
INDIANS OF THE OAKS, Melicent Lee, San Diego Museum of Man, 1989
ADOPTED BY THE INDIANS—A True Story, Thomas Jefferson Mayfield, Heyday Books, 1997
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CHAPTER BOOKS—HIGH SCHOOL-ADULT
LIFE IN A CALIFORNIA MISSION—The Journals of Jean Francois de la Pérouse, Heyday Books, 1989
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DELFINA CUERO, as told to Florence Shipek, Malki Museum Press, 1970
TWO OLD WOMEN—An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
Velma Wallis, Harper Perennial, 1993
BIRD GIRL AND THE MAN WHO FOLLOWED THE SUN—An Athabaskan Indian Legend from Alaska, Velma Wallis, Harper Perennial, 1996
MISSION—THE BIRTH OF CALIFORNIA, THE DEATH OF A NATION, Margaret Wyman, Idyllwild Publishing Company, 2002
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STORY COLLECTIONS—ALL GRADE LEVELS
NATIVE AMERICAN STORIES, Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, 1991
NATIVE AMERICAN ANIMAL STORIES, Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, 1992
BACK IN THE BEFORETIME—Tales of the California Indians, retold by Jane Louise Curry, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987
DOWN FROM THE LONELY MOUNTAIN—California Indian Tales, retold by Jane Louise Curry, iUniverse.com Inc., 2000
STORIES CALIFORNIA INDIANS TOLD, Anne B. Fisher, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957
WHEN THE ANIMALS WERE PEOPLE, Kay Sanger, Malki Museum Press, 1983
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RESOURCE BOOKS—ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL
CALIFORNIA INDIANS, Mir Tamin Ansary, Heinemann Library, 2001
CALIFORNIA NATIVE PEOPLES, Stephen Feinstein, Heinemann Library, 2003
CELEBRATING THE POWWOW, Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing Company, 1997
NATIVE AMERICANS—An Inside Look At The Tribes And Traditions, Laura Buller, Dorling Kindersley, 2001
NATIVE WAYS—California Indian Stories and Memories, edited by Malcolm Margolin and Yolanda Montijo, Heyday Books, 1995
THE CALIFORNIA PEOPLE, Linda Thompson, Rourke Publishing, 2004
THE LUISEÑO OF CALIFORNIA, Jack S. Williams, Power Kids Press, 2003
(This book is part of a series: THE LIBRARY OF NATIVE AMERICANS)
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RESOURCE BOOKS—HIGH SCHOOL-ADULT
SURVIVAL SKILLS OF NATIVE CALIFORNIA, Paul D. Campbell, Gibbs-Smith Publisher, 1999
THE HEART IS FIRE—The World of the Cahuilla Indians of Southern California, Deborah Dozier, Heyday Books, 1998
AMERICAN INDIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS, Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz, Pantheon Books, 1984
NATIVE AMERICANS OF CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA, Jack Forbes, Naturegraph Publishers Inc., 1982
CALIFORNIA INDIAN NIGHTS, compiled by Edward W. Gifford and Gwendoline Harris Block, University of Nebraska Press, 1930
THE NATURAL WORLD OF THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS, Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser, University of California Press, 1980
HANDBOOK OF THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA, A. L. Kroeber, Dover Publications, 1976
SURVIVING THROUGH THE DAYS—A California Indian Reader, edited by Herbert W. Luthin, University of California Press, 2002
IT WILL LIVE FOREVER, Beverly R. Ortiz as told by Julia F. Parker, Heyday Books, 1991
GROWING UP NATIVE AMERICAN, Patricia Riley, Quill, 1993
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CRAFTS/GAMES/ART—ALL AGES
MORE THAN MOCCASINS, Laurie Carlson, Chicago Review Press, 1994
GRASS GAMES AND MOON RACES—California Indian Games and Toys, Jeannine Gendar, Heyday Books, 1995
HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN GAMES, Allan and Paulette Macfarlan, Dover, 1958
HOW TO MAKE DRUMS, TOMTOMS AND RATTLES, Bernard S. Mason, Dover, 1974
INDIAN HANDCRAFTS, C. Keith Wilbur, MD, The Globe Pequot Press, 2001
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