Jingle Dancer  

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Illustrators: Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

Grades K-6

Jenna has learned from her Grandmother and family about the Muscogee tradition of dancing in a powwow with a traditional dress called a jingle dress. Jenna wants to dance in the powwow but her dress does not have any jingles. She reaches out to her community to help her find what she needs to make her dress jingle so she can dance in the powwow and make her own jingle.

This book would be a wonderful addition to your elementary library. It is written by a Native American author and presents authentic language and experiences through the characters of the book. The book is beautifully illustrated using lots of color including authentic illustrations of Muscogee tradition dress and community.

I would use this book with my students to expose them to native american life through the eyes of a child their age. I would hope that sharing this story would help some of my students connect with the character and culture. It would be wonderful to use for discussion on native culture and tradition and the student’s cultures and traditions. It may bring about some great writing for compare and contrast as well as some writing about family traditions.

I chose this book to review because I wanted to find more books to add to my library that were written by native authors. Native authors are the least represented in diverse literature. Our native students need to be connected by literature written from native authors, just as our black, brown, and asian children need to read books written from black, brown, and asian authors. I was excited to research Cynthia Leitich Smith a bit and find she has written several books for children, young adults, and adults. I have included a link to her website below.

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4yhocDBQxA

Other books by this author: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/kidbooks/kids_index/