Here are 100 books that Little You fans have personally recommended if you like
Little You.
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I am a father of grown children, and I once believed there would always be more time. The ordinary days felt endless, until they weren't. My children grew, and the days I wished away became the ones I missed. The loss of my son made time feel different. Since then, I see people differently. We spend much of life shaping, correcting, and comparing, while each person is already becoming who they are. I am drawn to stories that honor people as they are, imperfect, different, and unrepeatable, because simply being here is enough.
Nana never preaches or teaches with speeches. Nana helps C.J. learn to see the beauty where he didn't even know to look. From the kind bus driver to the blind man, each was respected for their uniqueness.
My favorite part was when they all closed their eyes to listen to the music. C.J. was transported by his imagination high above the city, into the clouds, tasting what he had yet to see.
The grace is evident throughout. When they end at the soup kitchen, and Nana shows her caring, that circle of grace is complete. From Nana's lessons to her laughing, to her caring, her ability to see is that beauty.
Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn't he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty and fun in their routine and in the world around them. This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the love and understanding between grandparent and grandchild as the world comes…
A satisfying story of rediscovering friendship after time spent apart.
For many years, Hazel and Mabel were inseparable. The two friends made up stories, spent the night together, and shared their snacks. Then, Mabel moved away. As time passes, Hazel and Mabel think of each other often, but they also…
Kindness is very important to me. I went to Catholic school as a child and grew up believing I was expected to be a saint. I think kindness can be life-changing and world-changing. I think it’s one of the most important things we can instill in our children and I think it should be the guiding light to how we live our lives.
Brian feels invisible because he’s never picked by his classmates for teams, is ignored at lunchtime, and isn’t invited to a classmate’s birthday party. I liked the way the illustrator drew Brian in shades of gray rather than full color, like the other characters. When a new child joins the class, Brian shows kindness when other classmates make fun of him.
I liked how the new boy wants to include Brian, and that bit of kindness makes all the difference–turning the illustrations from gray to full color.
A gentle story that teaches how small acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish, from esteemed author and speaker Trudy Ludwig and acclaimed illustrator Patrice Barton.
A simple act of kindness can transform an invisible boy into a friend...
Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody in class ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party . . . until, that is, a new kid comes to class.
When Justin, the new boy, arrives, Brian is the first to make him feel welcome. And when Brian…
My first memories are of sitting in the garden munching strawberries off the vine as my grandfather picked vegetables. Dad’s days off meant a trip to the nature reserve or sledding the town slopes. Vacations were for jumping in waves and exploring tidepools. Mom collected antique children’s books and instilled a passion for reading. When not exploring the woods across the railroad tracks with friends, I was reading. Childhood and my passion for nature intersect in my writing in two of my other books, A Beach Tail and Circles of Hope. Nowadays, my routine includes writing in my woodland cabin and daily hikes with my flat-coated retriever, Lowani.
I love snow! I love this book. The simple collage illustrations support a simple childhood experience that captures my childhood winter as much as it does the delight my grandchildren take in snow. I love that this is nature experienced in a city setting. It was a quiet day for making footprints in the snow, feet pointing out, and feet pointing in. The crunch, crunch, crunch, a stick just right for smacking snow-covered trees.
I want to climb into this book and be that child. And oh, the memories of a snow day, not a holiday but a day filled with magic like no other, a day to fully explore and enjoy the season, the natural world. The excitement I feel even now when snow falls at night, promising another snow day.
The magic and wonder of winter's first snowfall is perfectly captured in Ezra Jack Keat's Caldecott Medal-winning picture book. This celebrated classic has been shared by generations of readers and listeners, a must-have for every child's bookshelf and a perfect gift for the holiday season.
New York Public Library's #1 book on the list of "Top Check Outs of All Time"
In 1962, a little boy named Peter put on his snowsuit and stepped out of his house and into the hearts of millions of readers. Universal in its appeal, this story beautifully depicts a child's wonder at a…
Floretta- the story of an old woman who discovers life beautifully anew thru the helping hands of a child. The chakra colors of dawn and twilight are woven through the pages as the cycle of life is magically composed. The subject of “heaven,” has the potential to open discussions with…
As a mom and children’s author, I’ve seen how much children need reminders that they are already loved, already important, and already enough. I’ve written over 30 picture books that explore kindness, confidence, and emotional resilience, but my heart always comes back to one mission: helping kids see their worth.
I created this list because I believe books are powerful mirrors—they show children not only who they are but who they can grow to be. These stories encourage kids to embrace their differences, trust their voice, and carry the confidence that being themselves is the most beautiful thing of all.
Molly Lou Melon has unique traits that some may tease her about, but she turns these differences into strengths, which is truly inspiring. This story reminds kids to embrace their individuality and shine without holding back.
Be yourself like Molly Lou Melon no matter what a bully may do.
Molly Lou Melon is short and clumsy, has buck teeth, and has a voice that sounds like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor. She doesn't mind. Her grandmother has always told her to walk proud, smile big, and sing loud, and she takes that advice to heart.
But then Molly Lou has to start in a new school. A horrible bully picks on her on the very first day, but Molly Lou Melon knows just what to do about that.
I’ve been a labor union attorney and lifelong historical researcher drawn to the 1900s Progressive Era because of the parallels between that time and today. To write Unseen, I read over 100 books and articles about Indian life ways, reservations, boarding schools, and federal policy. Many sources are firsthand accounts written by Indians and ethnologists whom Indians deem credible. Whenever fact or opinion conflicted, I deferred to the Indian account. Pre-Columbus, Indians totaled 5 million. By the 1900 census, fewer than 250,000 survived. My research yielded a history that was both horrific and inspiring. I concluded that there is much to learn from these First Peoples.
This slim autobiography enchants with its simplicity. It is easy to see why it is considered a classic of American Indian literature.
La Flesche gives a first-hand account of his own boyhood in a boarding school far from his family and community. While many Indian parents resisted the theft of their children, others surrendered them. They had no choice. While many reservation Indians were dying from starvation, disease, despair, and outright murder, this young boy struggled with the daily dehumanization of forced assimilation.
This book is a testament to the Indians' extraordinary endurance. The author, himself, triumphed by becoming a respected academic and America’s first Indian ethnologist, working for the Smithsonian.
The Middle Five, first published in 1900, is an account of Francis La Flesche's life as a student in a Presbyterian mission school in northeastern Nebraska about the time of the Civil War. It is a simple, affecting tale of young Indian boys midway between two cultures, reluctant to abandon the ways of their fathers, and puzzled and uncomfortable in their new roles of "make-believe white men." The ambition of the Indian parents for their children, the struggle of the teachers to acquaint their charges with a new world of learning, and especially the problems met by both parents and…
I have always been fascinated with stories about women who step outside the norm and accomplish their goals. Books that tell of girls who are shy or insecure, but find inner strength in the face of adversity, inspire me. My mother wasn’t afraid to guide me toward these stories when I was young, and I gave books with this theme to my daughters as well. It doesn’t matter where you start from, it only matters where you think you can go, and I love books that share this idea; especially stories of women who do amazing and unexpected things.
This book is about Anne Hobbs, a nineteen-year-old girl, who in 1927 travels to Alaska to run a ramshackle, one-room schoolhouse. Along the way, she is exposed to more than just the elements. Against the local’s advice, she allows Native American children into her class and falls in love with a half-Inuit man. In this fascinating and charming story, Anne learns the meaning of prejudice and perseverance, irrational hatred, and unconditional love.
This story taught me that we, as girls, can do important things and change the world around us. Anne was sweet and shy, but through showing compassion and concern, she made a change in her community. It wasn’t easy and she faced hardship, but she was successful and content within herself. Why do I love this book? First of all, the book is an adventure about survival in the wilderness. Anne had people watching out for her and…
The beloved real-life story of a woman in the Alaskan wilderness, the children she taught, and the man she loved.
“From the time I’d been a girl, I’d been thrilled with the idea of living on a frontier. So when I was offered the job of teaching school in a gold-mining settlement called Chicken, I accepted right away.”
Anne Hobbs was only nineteen in 1927 when she came to harsh and beautiful Alaska. Running a ramshackle schoolhouse would expose her to more than just the elements. After she allowed Native American children into her class and fell in…
An engaging picture book for children that celebrates what it means to be American!
What does it mean to be American? Does it mean you like apple pie or fireworks? Not exactly. This patriotic picture book is perfect for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Election Day, or any day you want…
My grandparents played a pivotal role in my childhood, living with us and raising my brother and me while my parents worked long hours. Some of my favorite memories of those years are lying in bed as Abuelo told me stories that made me laugh instead of making me sleepy, cooking picadillo with my abuela in the kitchen, and going on long walks along the beach with my abuelo. Though they didn’t speak to me in Spanish, they taught me to sing nursery rhymes and enticed me with sticks of Big Red gum to get me to learn how to roll my r’s.
This book's evocative verse drew me in immediately, whisking me into a cozy childhood memory of my own. I love the repeated refrains of Fry Bread…which allows young ones to anticipate and ‘read along,’ increasing engagement with the child.
The beautiful illustrations, which show children of many different skin tones in the kitchen assisting and then awaiting the delicious result, amplify the story, showing how grandparents can be sources of love and support for their grandchild's network of friends.
I especially love this book because it reminds me of cooking Cuban bread pudding with my abuela for Thanksgiving, her contribution to the American holiday that reminded her of her home.
Fry bread is food. It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.
Fry bread is time. It brings families together for meals and new memories.
Fry bread is nation. It might look or taste different, but it is still shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.
Fry bread is us. It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.
Fry Bread is a story told in lively and powerful verse by Seminole Nation member Kevin Noble Maillard, with vibrant art from Pura Belpre Award winner Juana Martinez-Neal.
The children and young people who call the U.S. home are increasingly diverse on almost every imaginable identifier. Over the past decade, educators have grown more committed to meeting the distinct needs and potential of every child. This list of books provides insights into why people are so virulently opposed to Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
As educational equity researchers and professors, we believe that understanding the recent attacks on DEI is important because it gives readers insights into the longer tradition of opposition to civil rights, equality, and justice for all people. If we can understand the past, we can be prepared to not repeat it.
As much as the current attacks on DEI may feel new or recent, the use of education and schooling to colonize and assimilate goes all the way back to the founding myths of this country and the aims of stealing land from Indigenous peoples and labor from enslaved Black communities.
This book highlights those histories across time as motivated not by personal malice or differences in cultural beliefs but by settler-colonial economic gain. Those moves were rationalized by the notion of European “civilization” as superior and enforced through violence to erase Native people, cultures, and sovereignty.
The final chapter reminds us that “the past is present” in the fights over who gets to tell the histories and what narratives get valorized or erased; the grab for land, resources, and economic power that underlies the current attacks; and in the ongoing resistance and creativity of Indigenous nations and other minoritized communities…
Now part of the HBO docuseries "Exterminate All the Brutes," written and directed by Raoul Peck
Recipient of the American Book Award
The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples
Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortizoffers a…
Born and raised in Ohio, the “First West,” I was trained by top historians of the American West at the University of Toledo where I received my doctorate in American History. I’ve worked as a university and research fellow, a writer in the business world, and a professor of history and department chair at Lourdes University. I left my teaching and administrative career to become a full-time writer. Along with Unlikely General, my recent books have included The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians and Interrupted Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant and the American Indians. Currently, I’m writing a dual biography of William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh.
Historians have written moving accounts of the discovery and settlement of the American West, but Alvin Josephy in The Patriot Chiefs tells the same story from the “other side,” meaning from the point of view of the many Indian chiefs who tried to stop the advance of first, the American colonies, and then, the American nation. One by one, their lives and their struggles light up before the reader. Although I read the book years ago, Josephy’s vivid portraits of Hiawatha, King Philip, Popé, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola, Black Hawk, Crazy Horse, and Chief Joseph stay alive in my imagination to this very day. Their stories, like those of every daring explorer and hardy pioneer who made their way west, must be remembered as part of the great story of America.
"A valuable chronicle of the greatness and majesty of the Indian chiefs."-Christian Science Monitor
Told through the life stories of nine Indian chiefs, this narrative depicts the American Indian effort to preserve a heritage and resist the changes brought by the white man. Hiawatha, King Philip, Pope, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola, Black Hawk, Crazy Horse, and Chief Joseph each represent different tribal backgrounds, different times and places, and different aspects of Indian leadership. Soldiers, philosophers, orators, and statesmen, these leaders were the patriots of their people. Their heroic and tragic stories comprise an integral part of American history.
In a time of alternative facts and the loss of a shared sense of reality, A Foot is Not a Fish playfully illustrates the difference between what is true and what is not through absurd fun comparisons that every child—and parent—will instantly understand.
Though from different backgrounds, we share a profound passion for Native culture. As an enrolled member of the White Earth Chippewa Tribe of Minnesota, Gordon’s poetry and fiction draw deeply from his Anishinabe heritage and contribute to the current flowering of Indian writing. Ivy is the grandchild of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. As a scholar and teacher, she was appalled that Native writers are largely excluded from the American canon and worked to right that wrong. They met through their shared interest in Samson Occom, an 18th-century Mohegan writer, and decided to collaborate on increasing awareness of the necessity of Native writing to sustaining our future.
Though we are thankful for the current movements to decolonize archives and museums, from at least 1750, Native writers have been doing this important survival work of asserting Native ways of knowing. This revelation is the subject of Wisecup’s ground-breaking study. It shows how early Native writers assembled lists, collages, and literary texts that, through juxtaposition and recontextualization, resisted the way colonial archives defined their bodies, belongings, and words as ethnographic evidence of vanishing peoples. Wisecup offers revealing ways to read the Indigenous compilations of key figures like Mohegan Samson Occom’s medicinal recipes, Ojibwe Charlotte Johnston’s poetry scrapbooks, and Abenaki leader Joseph Laurent’s vocabulary lists. We also deeply appreciate how Wisecup ends each chapter by connecting the early writer it focuses on to contemporary Indigenous culture.
A wide-ranging, multidisciplinary look at Native American literature through non-narrative texts like lists, albums, recipes, and scrapbooks
"An intricate history of Native textual production, use, and circulation that reshapes how we think about relationships between Native materials and settler-colonial collections."-Rose Miron, D'Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library
Kelly Wisecup offers a sweeping account of early Native American literatures by examining Indigenous compilations: intentionally assembled texts that Native people made by juxtaposing and recontextualizing textual excerpts into new relations and meanings. Experiments in reading and recirculation, Indigenous compilations include Mohegan minister Samson…
