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Now's a good time to focus on gratitude

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Just before Thanksgiving is a good time of year to focus on gratitude for our country and to appreciate the people who were here all along. You can help your child discover books about Native Americans.

“Ten Little Rabbits” by Virginia Grossman is a counting book for the very young, showing rabbits dressed in traditional Native American costumes from ten different tribes. The rabbits engage in activities like storytelling, weaving and hunting. The illustrations by Sylvia Long are wonderful, with bright colors and textures.

Young children can weave a simple placemat with strips of construction paper. Cut the strips wide enough for small fingers to handle and demonstrate the weaving process. If they get frustrated you can step in and help. You might want to laminate it and keep it for Thanksgiving.

A story about two Native American children, “Soft Step & Bright Eyes: A Tale of Native American Life,” was written by Susan Tate and illustrated by James Melvin. The two children find strange footprints on the bank of a river while on a canoe excursion with their parents. This is part of Tate's American History series.

Your child can make a shape picture for this story. Cut out an oval and cut it in half for the canoe. A long rectangle can be the river. Two small rectangles can be the children with circles for their heads. Trees and bushes can be constructed from brown rectangles and green triangles and circles.

“Native American Stories” by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac is a collection of myths and legends with Native American roots from different regions of our country. There are creation stories and stories about natural elements including water, fire, the sky and animals. The bold illustrations are by John Kahionhes.

If your child takes a special liking to stories about one topic you might want to help them discover more. If they like the water stories they could look at stories from other cultures involving water. They could do science experiments with water and even write their own legend about water.

For a wonderful dose of reality try “Children of Native America Today” by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Arlene B. Hirschfelder. Using a photo essay format, this book depicts Native American children from Maine to Hawaii from many diverse cultures. It focuses not only on the differences but also on the similarities of the activities of children, from snowboarding and surfing websites to traditional dances at a tribal gathering. It contains a map to locate tribal communities, with each tribe having a two-page spread. The book also has a chapter about Native Americans living in cities.

After reading this book your child may want to explore their own cultural roots. You can find books with stories from your own culture to share and enjoy.

To learn more about native Texans, visit the Bob Bullock State History Museum on MLK Boulevard in Austin.

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