Annotated Bibliography

Baylor, Byrd. (1976). And it is Still that Way: Legends told by Arizona Indian Children. El Paso, Texas: Cinco Puntos Press.

Collection of traditional Native American legends retold by Arizona Indian children, including Navajo. Stories are about magic, spirits, origins, plants, and animals - especially trickster coyote.

Baylor, Byrd. (1991). The Way to Make Perfect Mountains: Native American Legends of Sacred Mountains. (Illus.) Leonard F. Chana. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Southwest Native American legends explain connections between the people and their sacred mountains. Includes stories about creation, magic, power, change, and spirituality.

Begay, Shonto. (1992). Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

After eating much of Horned Toad's corn crop, Ma'ii the coyote eats his cousin and claims the farm for himself. But from inside, Horned Toad plays tricks on Ma'ii until the coyote promises to leave him alone forever.

Begay, Shonto. (1995). Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

From Booklist: Gr. 7-12. Begay, author and illustrator of Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad (1992), presents a very personal view of contemporary Navajo life in this picture book collection for older readers. Begay pairs 20 of his paintings with original poetry.

Bial, Raymond. (1998). The Navajo (Lifeways, Group 1). London and Paris: Marshall Cavendish Ltd.

From Horn Book: Lavishly illustrated with archival images and contemporary color photographs, the volumes explore the history and culture of four Native peoples. Each book examines a group's way of life, both past and present, and explains the traditional birth, marriage, and death ceremonies.

Blood, Charles L. and Link, Martin. (1990). The Goat in the Rug. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Told from the point of view of Geraldine the goat, the story teaches the reader about the process of making a Navajo rug. Geraldine’s wool is clipped, spun, dyed, and woven. Book includes a helpful, illustrated glossary.

Browne, Vee. (1991). Monster Slayer: A Navajo Folktale. (Illus.) Baje Whitethorne. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.

A picture book that retells the traditional Navajo (Dine) story of the twin brother monster slayers. The illustrator is a member of the Navajo tribe, and the author lives and teaches on the Navajo reservation.

Bruchac, Joseph. (2002). Navajo Long Walk: the tragic story of a proud people's forced march from their homeland. (Illus.) Shonto Begay. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.

Abenaki Joseph Bruchac and Navajo Shonto Begay combine their talents to tell the tragic story of how, in the 1860s, U.S. soldiers forced thousands of Navajos to march to a desolate reservation 400 miles from their homeland in an effort to “civilize” them. Hundreds died along the way; those who survived found unspeakable living conditions at their destination. When word of the Indian’s plight finally gained public attention, President Andrew Johnson sent a Peace Commission to investigate. The resulting treaty allowed the Navajos to return to their homeland, and ho’zho—harmony—was restored. The Navajos prospered and have lived in peace with the U.S. government ever since while preserving their own proud culture.

Chanin, Michael and Howard, Kim. (1997). The Chief's Blanket. (Illus.) H.J. Kramer. Tiburon, CA: H J Kramer Starseed Press.

Napra Review: "The author has taken great care with historical accuracy in this tale, set in the 1800s in the Southwest. It's about a highly skilled Navajo weaver named Mockingbird Song who teaches her art to her granddaughter, Flower After the Rain. Mockingbird tells Flower about the chiefs of the north country.

Cohlene, Terri. (1990). Turquoise Boy: A Navajo Legend. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Corp.

A retelling of a Navajo Indian legend in which Turquoise Boy searches for something that will make the Navajo people's lives easier. Includes a brief history of the Navajo people and their customs.

Duncan, Lois. (1996). The Magic of Spider Woman. (Illus.) Shonto Begay. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

This Navajo legend tells of a young shepherdess who shivers from the cold until the mythic Spider Woman teaches her how to shear sheep, card and spin wool, and weave blankets. Spider Woman warns the newly named Weaving Woman to "walk the Middle Way," keeping her life in balance and not to do too much of one thing. But Weaving Woman doesn’t listen...

Hucko, Bruce. (1996). A Rainbow at Night: The World in Words and Pictures. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Using their words and their paintings, 23 Navajo children, ranging in age from 5 to 13, share views of home and family, daily activities, and myth and culture.

Hunter, Sara Hoagland. (1996). The Unbreakable Code. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.

Upset that he's moving from his birthplace, a Navajo boy listens to his grandfather reminisce about helping the military create a code based on the Navajo language during World War II. The Japanese never discovered how to break the code, but the young boy discovers a little bit about who he is.

 

Kirchner, Mary Kay, and Reza Sarhangi (2011). Connecting the Art of Navajo Weavings to Secondary Education(PDF*). Ohio Journal of School Mathematics 64: 11-17.

Shows teachers how to use patterns within Navajo weavings to illustrate mathematical concepts such as the four isometries and the seven frieze groups, the fundamental region, and the fractal concept of iteration and its impact on area and perimeter.

Morgan, William. (1949). Coyote Tales. Walnut, CA: Kiva Publishing, Inc.

Originally created as part of a literacy project in the 1940's, this collection of tales features Coyote, the trickster, who is often betrayed by his own cleverness. Navajo artist Andrew Tsihnahjinnie captures the humor and imagination typical of Navajo storytelling. Bilingual, English and Navajo.

National Museum of the American Indian. (1999). When the Rain Sings: Poems by Young Native Americans. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Poetry by young Native Americans, including Navajo, ages seven to seventeen. Richly illustrated with photographs of artifacts and historic photos from the Smithsonian.

Nez, Redwing T. (1995). Forbidden Talent. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.

Ages 4-8. There's both reverence and mischief in this autobiographical picture book about a Navajo boy and his grandfather on the reservation. Ashkii loves to paint, and he does it all the time. But his grandfather disapproves of painting for fun; he says that it is not the Navajo way.

O'Dell, Scott. (1970). Sing Down the Moon. New York, NY: Dell.

Young Bright Morning dramatically and courageously tells the Navajo tribe’s forced march from their homeland to Fort Sumner by white soldiers and settlers. "The very simplicity of the writing, at times almost terse, makes more vivid the tragedy of the eviction and the danger and triumph of the (Navajo)...”

Roessel, Monty. (1993). Kinaalda: A Navajo Girl Grows Up (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today series). New York, NY: First Avenue Editions, 1993.

Celinda McKelvey seems like a typical 13-year-old American girl, and most of the time she lives like one, but her roots are deep in the Navajo nation, and she returns to the reservation to solemnize and celebrate her change from girl to woman.

Roessel, Monty. (1995). Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave (We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today series). Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company.

As he photographs his mother teaching his 10-year-old daughter, Jaclyn, how to weave the Navajo way, Roessel does some fine weaving of his own. Roessel, more cultural emissary than passive observer, weaves bountiful insights regarding Navajo culture into his photo.

Tapahonso, Luci. (1995). Navajo ABC: A Dine Alphabet Book. (Illus.) Eleanor Schick. New York, NY: Macmillan Books for Young Readers.

Beautiful illustrations of traditional Navajo lifestyles and items from everyday life accompany each letter of the alphabet. Includes glossary and pronunciation guide.

Turner, Ann Warren. (1999). The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864 (Dear America Series). New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

From Horn Book: Separated from her family, Sarah Nita suffers cold, hunger, and fear on the Long Walk, when soldiers force the Navajo to walk hundreds of miles to imprisonment at Fort Sumner.