On Powwow Day
$8.99 USD
Boardbook
In this board book by best-selling Native author Traci Sorell, discover colors, sounds, and counting from one to ten on powwow day!
This eye-catching, interactive board book is sure to keep toddlers engaged. Count one through ten as you make your way through the day of the powwow, looking for colors, family members, jingle dresses, musical instruments, and tribal citizens in this introduction to a traditional Native event.
An award-winning children’s picture book adapted to be ready for little listeners in a warm and vibrant board book edition.
Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction for children featuring contemporary characters and compelling biographies. She is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.
Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Her work reflects her love of childhood. She holds a degree from Rhode Island School of design and lives in Brooklyn. She is the illustrator of The Pear Tree and Look, Grandma!/Ni, Elisi!
♦ When River first wakes up on tribal powwow day, she feels a surge of excitement before remembering that there will be “no dancing./ No jingle dress competition for me./... I can’t dance like I could before I got sick.” Attending the powwow with family, River, portrayed with light brown skin and short hair in a marigold jingle dress, hopes to dance Grand Entry and the intertribal dance, but is fatigued, unfocused, and “can’t feel the drum’s heartbeat.” Yet, watching from a nearby seat as the dancers connect to “the drum,/ Mother Earth,/ and one another,” and witnessing family and friends participating in the girls’ jingle dance, she realizes: “They dance for/ the Creator,/ the ancestors,/ their families,/ and everyone’s health.../ including mine.” In sensory-focused lines, Sorell (We Are Still Here!), who is Cherokee, creates a resonant, hopeful tale about the healing power of community and tradition, deftly capturing the powwow’s essence. Textural digital illustrations by Goodnight (Look, Grandma! Ni, Elisi!), who is Chickasaw, focus on the event’s sights and its participants’ fluid movements, effectively conveying River’s sideline perspective and desire to dance with her community once again. Back matter offers more information about powwows.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
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