(2) K-3 Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. Hocker reminds readers that there is more to nature than a casual glance affords. When a group of child and adult hikers discovers an animal skull, they are prompted to consider what they can deduce from examining it, for this natural relic has a story to tell. "A skull speaks in arches and ridges and caverns of bones. It speaks in teeth and cracks, and holes into, and holes through. It says: I was." Readers turn the page and examine the skull (enlarged from the previous page's illustration), noting the two large openings where eyes once were, eyes that defined this creature as a "watcher." Donovan's full-bleed digital art on the next double-page spread depicts a lynx spotting a rabbit while hunting at twilight. This pattern continues, introducing a deer, a beaver, a hummingbird, a wolf, and an owl: shades of blue outlined in black display each animal's skull, text describes a prominent feature, and the animal is seen in its habitat employing this feature. Extensive back matter utilizes both text and a labeled illustration of a human skull to define features such as orbits, the cranium, and the mandible; additional attributes of the six skulls discussed in the main text; and resources for further inquiry. Once readers catch on to the unusual device of narrators being a succession of animal skulls, the text flows smoothly, and both the facts presented and the plea to appreciate the multiple ways nature speaks to us are clear.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. In this affecting picture book, Ojiig, a young Indigenous boy, moves with his parents from their rural home to the city when his father gets a new job. He misses fishing, picking blueberries, and seeing the stars at night; grocery-store shopping and glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars are poor substitutes. A star blanket quilted with Mama (identified in the appended note as an Anishinaabeg woman) and the accompanying stories of Ojiig's ancestors bring comfort, and the arrival of his grandparents for a visit also helps the city to feel like home. "Home is where you discover who you are. Home is who you imagine who you might become." Luby's lyrical text and Donovan's vibrant colored-pencil and digital illustrations combine to powerfully convey universal themes about change and the strength of family. An author's note gives background on Anishinaabeg and Dakota quilting traditions; a pronunciation guide is also appended.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. Originally a short story in King's adult collection One Good Story, That One, this comics version retains its complexity, dry humor, and sharp political edge. A boy (the narrator) from a Blackfoot reservation in Alberta drives with his mother to visit his sister, who has moved to Salt Lake City. At the tiny border crossing in Sweetgrass, Montana, a border guard asks the mother to state her citizenship. "Blackfoot," she says. She's denied entry to the United States ("It would have been easier if my mother had just said 'Canadian' and been done with it, but I could see she wasn't going to do that") and sent back to Canada--to the tiny border crossing in Coutts, a hundred yards away. "Your citizenship?" the Canadian border guard asks. "Blackfoot," the boy's mother replies, and is denied re-entry to Canada. Stuck between borders, mother and son spend several nights sleeping in the car, near the duty-free shop, until they are allowed to cross into the U.S. as a result of media attention. The ­thematic and literary richness of this story is exhilarating, unsettling the insistent binary of American/Canadian nationalities for the lived reality of Indigenous nationhood. But the story is textured, too: the unspoken reasons for the mother's resistance to her daughter's departure; the daughter's own motives in going. The geography, accurately and evocatively rendered by Donovan, is yet another multi-layered presence, raising a multitude of insights and questions about borders, identity, and the passing on of culture. All this is delivered with a light touch by the narrator, whose perpetual quest for food is realistic and funny.

Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. Sorell (We Are Still Here!, rev. 5/21) opens the book with a note on four "Cherokee values" that she uses to frame Ross's (1908–2008) long life: "Gaining skills in all areas of life (both within and outside the classroom), working cooperatively with others, remaining humble when others recognize your talents, and helping ensure equal education and opportunity for all." Through realistically cartooned digital illustrations and straightforward text, readers learn how Ross's experiences reflected these traits. Because she valued learning and had a passion for math, Ross was able to persevere when "the boys refused to sit next to the only girl in math class." This passion led her to a job as a mathematician for Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, where she worked with others to design fighter planes as well as spacecraft. Her most important contribution was encouraging other women and American Indians to become engineers. An appended timeline, an author's note, source notes, and a bibliography provide more details about Ross's life and times. Also appended with Sorell's Four Cherokee Values written using Cherokee syllabary and its transliteration; phonetic pronunciation in English; and English-language ­translation--features that help to preserve the language for future generations.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021