Indigenous Childrens and YA Books From BC
Created by ABPBC on May 21, 2015
A Different Game
In this sequel to Murphy and Mousetrap, Murphy and his three friends, Danny, Jeff and Albert, are making the transition from the tribal elementary school to the community middle school.
They are all trying out for the middle school's soccer team, and they're pretty confident that The Formidable Four will all make the team. But once the tryouts begin, Albert, the tribal-school superstar, plays like a second-stringer. Murphy's new friend, Molly, is determined to help the boys find out what's wrong …
For-mi-da-ble: inspiring respect or wonder because of size, strength or ability
"Formidable," Murphy says to his cat, Mousetrap. "The Formidable Four. That's us, MT. What do you think about that?"
The Little Hummingbird
From internationally renowned Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas comes an inspiring picture book for kids 5-8 about a courageous hummingbird who defies fear and expectations to save her forest home.
The great forest is on fire, and the terrified animals are fleeing for their lives. But not the little hummingbird. While the others watch, the brave little bird flies to the stream and back, over and over, each time carrying a single drop of water to put on the fire.
Based on a South American Ind …
The Littlest Sled Dog
Igvillu is a little dog with big dreams. One of her favorite dreams is of becoming a sled dog. When Igvillu is adopted from her kennel by an Inuit storyteller and moves to northern Canada, she comes face-to-face with real sled dogs. Igvillu loves living in the North, chasing siksiks and dreaming about her future. She's a dog who believes anything is possible!
Igvillu said to herself, "When I grow up, I am going to be a St. Bernard."
She dreamed about running in the deep, pure-white snows of the Alps and rescuing skiers.
She dreamed of running, running so fast, chasing wolves with sleek Irish wolfhounds. She dreamed of hunting with dingoes in Australia.
She dreamed of splashing in clear waters fetching ducks with golden retrievers.
But most of the time she dreamed about pulling huge, heavy sleds with big huskies, way up north.
Mwakwa Talks to the Loon
Winner of the Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year Award, 2006 Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival and Book Awards
Kayâs is a young Cree man who is blessed with a Gift that makes him a talented hunter. He knows the ways of the Beings he hunts and can even talk with them in their own languages. But when he becomes proud and takes his abilities for granted, he loses his gift, and the People grow hungry.
With the help of the Elders and the Beings that inhabit the water, Kayâs learns that in …
Orphan Ahwak
Aneze, a young Inuit girl, is left for dead after her village is ripped apart by a wife-raid; her father and brother are killed and her mother is kidnapped.
Aneze is the only survivor. She renames herself Orphan Ahwak as she struggles to survive on her own, first in the forest and then in a remote world of tundra and sea-ice. She endures cold and hunger and befriends people whose customs are completely foreign to her. Through it all she remains determined to become a hunter and to find a place in …
"A hunter knows he is never alone." She had heard Father say that once.
Aneze looked into the trees. She spoke out loud to the bush. "There's always you, Chickadee," she said to the small birds skittering above. "And if I stare long enough at the sky, I'll see you, Eagle, circling with your wife. You will show me where Rabbit and Vole are hiding. And nearby in the stream, you are swimming, Jackfish. And you, Beaver, you are working on your house."
"You see," Aneze told the woods. "I'm not alone at all."
Belle of Batoche
Belle, an 11-year-old Metis girl, and Sarah both want the coveted job of church bell ringer.
An embroidery contest is held to award the position, and Sarah cheats. Before Belle can expose her, the two are caught up in the advancing forces of General Middleton and his troops as they surround Batoche in the 1885 Riel Rebellion. The church bell disappeared that day and remains missing to this day.
Belle hadn't meant to stay so long. It must be after eight o'clock, way past breakfast. How was she going to explain? Suddenly Belle stopped, listening intently as an unfamiliar sound drifted to her on the early morning breeze. Then she recognized what it was. Gunfire! Batoche was under attack!
"Many years ago, when the world and I were younger, my family defied the government."
Secret Signs
The Depression has ruined Henry Dafoe's life: his father has left the family farm to look for work, his mother is sick and now she's decided to send Henry to Nova Scotia to work on his uncle's fishboat. But Henry has other ideas. He runs away from home to join his father, which proves more difficult than he imagined. Alone and scared in a strange city, he befriends an old hobo named Clickety Clack, who agrees to take him to find his father. As they make their way across the country, Clickety Cla …
This was not how he'd imagined today would go, but he wouldn't let anyone, not even his mother, tell him what to do. Like his hero, Tom Sawyer, Henry would seek his fame and fortune in the wide world. Maybe he couldn't hitch a ride on a Mississippi riverboat, but he could take a page out of Tom's book and live by his wits and by his own rules.
