Book picks similar to
Peace Dancer by Roy Henry Vickers


picture-books
children-s-books
children
indigenous

The Honeybee


Kirsten Hall - 2018
    It’s closer, it’s coming, it’s buzzing, it’s humming… A BEE! With zooming, vibrant verse by Kirsten Hall and buzzy, beautiful illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, this celebration of the critically important honeybee is a honey-sweet treasure of a picture book.

The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs: The Story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation


Kate Messner - 2018
    All it takes is one:One coral gamete to start a colonyOne person to make a differenceOne idea to change the worldThe ongoing efforts to save and rebuild the world's coral reefs--with hammer and glue, and grafts of newly grown coral--are the living legacy of Ken Nedimyer.Kate Messner and Matthew Forsythe tell the true story of the coral restoration pioneer in this brilliant tribute to the wonders of nature and the power of human ingenuity.

White Is for Blueberry


George Shannon - 2005
    Is a blueberry blue?Is a crow black?Is fire yellow?Is snow white?If you think you know,then think --and look again!

Waterless Mountain


Laura Adams Armer - 1931
    This deeply moving and accurate account of one young Navaho's childhood and spiritual journey is filled with wonder and respect for the natural world—a living record of the Navaho way of life before the influence of the white man.

Camp Tiger


Susan Choi - 2019
    This year, the boy is going into first grade, and his mother is encouraging him to do things on his own, just like his older brother. And the most different thing of all . . . this year, a tiger comes to the woods.

Grandpa Green


Lane Smith - 2011
    He was a farmboy and a kid with chickenpox and a soldier and, most of all, an artist. In this captivating new picture book, readers follow Grandpa Green's great-grandson into a garden he created, a fantastic world where memories are handed down in the fanciful shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten.In his most enigmatic and beautiful work to date, Lane Smith explores aging, memory, and the bonds of family history and love; by turns touching and whimsical, it's a stunning picture book that parents and grandparents will be sharing with children for years to come.This title has Common Core connections.Grandpa Green is a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Picture Books title for 2011. One of School Library Journal's Best Picture Books of 2011.

Outside, Inside


LeUyen Pham - 2021
    . .. . . went inside.Outside, it was quieter, wilder, and different. Inside, we laughed, we cried, and we grew.We remembered to protect the ones we love and love the ones who protect us.While the world changed outside, we became stronger on the inside and believed that someday soon spring would come again.

How to Be an Elephant


Katherine Roy - 2017
    If it's a challenge for these 7,000-pound giants, what's it like for their newborn babies?An infant elephant has precious little time to learn the incredible array of skills that are necessary to keep up, from projecting her voice across a 10-octave range to using the 100,000 muscles in her trunk to stay hydrated. But this giant-to-be has the perfect classroom--a family herd made up of her mother, sisters, cousins, and aunts. With their help and protection, she'll learn how to survive, how to thrive, and how to be an elephant. Award-winning author-illustrator Katherine Roy's How to Be an Elephant delves into the intricate family dynamics at play in a typical African herd. Drawing upon the latest scientific research and Roy's own expedition to Kenya, and brimming with lush watercolor illustrations and detailed diagrams, this book vividly portrays the life and development of an elephant from an uncertain newborn into a majestic adult. As informative as it is beautiful, Roy's unique portrait of an elephant's life will captivate young explorers and animal lovers alike.

The Blue Whale


Jenni Desmond - 2015
    Here, readers are given the actual size of an eye right on the page, and we are informed how understand this whale's body size in relation to trucks, cars, milk bottles, and hippos! With an accurate and engaging text, fully vetted by a blue whale expert, and lyrically lovely illustrations, The Blue Whale is a book that invites children in and holds their attention. Its tempo is like a pleasing melody, which means that the information never becomes too weighty or exhausting―a key thing when it comes to young readers and their enjoyment of a book!

Kumak's Fish: A Tall Tale from the Far North


Michael Bania - 2004
    "Ahhh, spring," says Kumak to his family. "The days are long, the nights are short, and the ice is still hard. Good day for fish." Eager to give Uncle Aglu's amazing hooking stick a try, Kumak packs up his family and heads out to go ice fishing. "Good day for fish!" they all agree. Hapless Kumac is the only one in his family without fish until the tug at the other end of his line incites a mighty battle. A clever ending reveals that the whale-sized fish that Kumak imagined was actually a line of small fish in tug o' war position. Kumak reigns, and there's plenty for everybody. Authentic details throughout the playful art and text, as well as endnotes on Inupiat fishing, provide young readers with a fascinating window into another culture in this follow up to KUMAK'S HOUSE a 2003 Children's Book Council Notable Trade Book in Social Studies.

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving


Catherine O'Neill Grace - 2001
    Countering the prevailing, traditional story of the first Thanksgiving, with its black-hatted, silver-buckled Pilgrims; blanket-clad, be-feathered Indians; cranberry sauce; pumpkin pie; and turkey, this lushly illustrated photo-essay presents a more measured, balanced, and historically accurate version of the three-day harvest celebration in 1621.

Grumpy Bird


Jeremy Tankard - 2007
    Too grumpy to eat or play -- too grumpy even to fly. "Looks like I'm walking today," says Bird. He walks past Sheep, who offers to keep him company. He walks past Rabbit, who also could use a walk. Raccoon, Beaver, and Fox join in, too. Before he knows it, a little exercise and companionship help Bird shake his bad mood. Praised by the Wall Street Journal as "comic perfection," this winsome, refreshingly original picture book is sure to help kids (and grown-ups) giggle away their grumpies, too! Bird's impeckably crafted, hilarious melodramas continue in the Grumpy Bird board book, Boo Hoo Bird, Hungry Bird, and coming in 2018, Sleepy Bird.

By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music


Carole Boston Weatherford - 2020
    His childhood was far from easy, with backbreaking hours in the fields, and no opportunity to go to school. But the spirituals he heard as he worked made him long to know how to read the Gospel for himself. Late at night, he taught himself to read from scraps of newspapers. From those small scraps, young Charles raised himself to become a founding father of American gospel music whose hymn was the basis for the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”Told in lilting verse with snippets of spirituals and Tindley’s own hymns woven throughout, Carole Boston Weatherford’s lyrical words and Bryan Collier’s luminous pictures celebrate a man whose music and conviction has inspired countless lives.

I Love Bugs!


Philemon Sturges - 2005
    Which one is your favorite?

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda


Alicia Potter - 2012
    Harkness would inherit an expedition from her explorer husband: the hunt for a panda.  She knew that bringing back a panda would be hard. Impossible, even.  But she intended to try.So she went to China, where she found a guide, built traps, gathered supplies, and had explorers' clothes made—unheard of for a woman in those days.  Then she set out up the Yangtze River and into the wilderness.  What she discovered would awe America: an adorable baby panda she named Su Lin, which means "a little bit of something very cute."With breathtaking illustrations from Caldecott Honor artist Melissa Sweet, this little-known true story shares the tale of an adventurous woman who was bold and brave—and the unforgettable journey that helped shape American attitudes toward wildlife.