Powwow Day [Hardcover]

River is recovering from illness and can't dance at the powwow this year. Will she ever dance again?

A heartwarming and hopeful contemporary Native American picture book for ages 4-8-year-olds about traditions, community, music, and healing, written and illustrated by Indigenous creators.

It's powwow day, and River wants so badly to dance as she does every year. But she can't dance this year as she deals with a serious illness.

In this modern and inspiring Native picture book that's perfect for beginning readers, follow River's journey from feeling isolated after an illness to learning the healing power of community.

Additional information explains the history and functions of powwows, which are commonplace across the United States and Canada and are open to both Native Americans and non-Native visitors. Best-selling and award-winning author Traci Sorell is a member of the Cherokee Nation, and illustrator Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation.♦ In this contemporary story, an Indigenous tradition inspires hope in a young girl.
Powwow Day, a traditional Native American ceremony, arrives, but River is still recovering from an unnamed illness and feels too weak to dance. Dressed in her jingle dress and matching moccasins, she longs to join her family and friends in the Grand Entry procession. She hears the drums—“BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM”—and watches the elders enter the circle with flags and feathers. The fancy dancers “twirl and ribbons whirl,” while the “grass dancers sway and weave themselves around the circle,” but River can’t “feel the drum’s heartbeat,” and her “feet stay still.” The emcee calls for the jingle dress dancers to enter the arena. Although River needs the ceremonial healing dance, l3-