 Books to avoid
We do not recommend these books. To read a critical
review that supports our position, click on the links below. These are
not all of the books that we do not recommend; they are just some of
the worst. For books we do recommend, please view our catalog.
Carilyn Alarid and Marilyn Markel, Old Grandfather Teaches a Lesson: Mimbres Children Learn Respect. Illustrated by the authors. Sunstone (2005)
Lynne Reid Banks,
The Indian in the
Cupboard. Illustrated by Brock Cole. Avon (1980)
The Return of the Indian.
Illustrated by William Geldart. Doubleday (1986)
Sharon Brown, Kit’s Indian Summer. PublishAmerica (2004)
Michael L. Cooper, Indian
School: Teaching the White Man's Way. Clarion (1999)
Alice Dalgliesh, The Courage
of Sarah Noble. Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Macmillan
(1954, 1991)
Walter D. Edmonds, The
Matchlock Gun. Illustrated by Paul Lantz.
Dodd, Mead (1941), G.P. Putnam (1989), Penguin Putnam (1998)
Janet Ruth Heller, How the Moon Regained Her Shape. Illustrated by Ben Hodson. Sylvan Dell Publishing (2006)
Susan Jeffers, Brother Eagle,
Sister Sky. Illustrated by the author. Dial (1991)
Heather Irbinskas, The Lost Kachina. Illustrated by Robert Albert (Hopi). Kiva (2004)
Tim Kessler, When God Made the Dakotas. Illustrated by Paul Morin. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (2006)
Liza Ketchum, Where the Great Hawk Flies. Clarion Books (2005)
Albert Marrin, Sitting
Bull and His World. Dutton (2000)
Also see the accompanying essay, Turning
a Battle Into a Massacre.
Bill Martin and John Archambault, Knots on a Counting Rope. Illustrated by Ted Rand. Holt (1987)
Ben Mikaelsen, Touching Spirit Bear. HarperCollins (2001)
Neil Philip, The Great Circle: A History of the First Nations. Clarion (2006)
Bebe Faas Rice, The Place at the Edge of
the Earth. Clarion (2002)
Ann Rinaldi, My Heart Is On
the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl. Carlisle Indian
School, Pennsylvania, 1880. Scholastic (1999), Dear
America Series
Also see the accompanying essay, “Literary
License” or “Mutated Plagiarism”?
Cynthia Rylant, Long Night Moon. Illustrated by Mark Siegel. Simon & Schuster (2004)
Debbie and Michael Shoulders, D is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet. Illustrated by Irving Toddy. Sleeping Bear Press (2006)
Marc Simmons, Millie Cooper’s Ride: A True
Story from History. Illustrated by Ronald Kil. University
of New Mexico Press (2002)
Elizabeth George Speare, The
Sign of the Beaver. Dell (1983)
C.J. Taylor, Peace Walker: The Legend of Hiawatha and Tekanawita. Illustrated by the author. Tundra (2004)
Ann Turner, The Girl Who
Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl. New Mexico,
1864. Scholastic (1999), Dear America Series
Neil Waldman, Wounded Knee. Atheneum (2001)
Kathy Jo Wargin, The Legend of the Petoskey Stone. Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen. Sleeping Bear Press (2004)
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little
House on the Prairie. Illustrated by
Garth Williams. HarperCollins (1935, 1953, 1981)
|
