Morning Girl is a book about a twelve year old girl and her younger brother on an island in pre-Columbian Amercia around 1492. The School Library Journal states,

"Michael Dorris's lyrical language rolls off the tongues of the two young narrators, who bring the hopes, everyday lives, and petty sibling rivalry of the two protagonists-each named for the time of day that they love best-to life."

Each chapter takes turns telling the narrative of the girl and boy in their uninhibited life before Europeans had landed. The author of Morning Girl, Michael Dorris, uses names that bring authenticity to this book. The girl’s name is "Morning Girl", her little brother’s name is "Star Boy", a best friend’s name is "Red Feather", the mother’s name is "She Wins the Race", and the father’s name is "Speaks to Birds". Dorris also brings in traditions and beliefs in this book that help the reader understand the culture of pre-Columbia America. The father explains, "People choose their own name, or it chooses them" (p.18). Most of the descriptions of people and places are mirrored by things in nature. For example, "His eyes were the color of a night sky when it is raining" (p. 20). There are also many examples of when Dorris has nature express humanistic emotions, "The wind was angry that I had discovered how to stop myself" (p. 42).

The last chapter explains in Morning Girl’s view of when the Europeans discovered their land. "The strangers had wrapped every part of their bodies with colorful leaves and cotton. Some had decorated their faces with fur and wore shiny rocks on their heads." (p. 69).

The only picture in this book is on the cover. On the original published copy, the cover depicts a young, dark haired, dark eyed woman wading in the water.

Through the authors descriptive words and authentic language in this book, Morning Girl is a wonderful book to incorporate into the classroom. This would be a great read aloud for any elementary class to hear.

Jingle Dancer is about a little girl named Jenna. Jenna is a member of the Muscogee (creek) Nation and is Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) decent. Jenna lives in a city in Oklahoma and borrows jingles from many women so she can dance in the next powwow.

Jingle Dancer is illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. Wright and Hu use full page watercolor illustrations in warm tones. The illustrations are authentic to the Native American cultures by the dresses being in solid colors from fabric with many jingles, the skin is redish, and the hair is dark. In the background, while the women dance at the powwow, there are blurry pictures of the rest of the people representing generations and traditions.

Cynthia Leitich Smith, the author of Jingle Dancer, uses numerous culture markers that parallel her own heritage of being a mixed blood member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In Smith’s first book, she uses foods that are authentic to this specific nation such as "honey on fry bread" and "Indian tacos". The name of her grandmother is "Grandma Wolfe", they are talking about the next "powwow", and Jenna wears "moccasins" are all examples of cultural specific language found in this book. An example of storytelling happens when, "Great-aunt Sis told Jenna a Muscogee Creek story about a Bat."

This book portrays an authentic and realistic view of a modern day Native American girl living in a city. Instead of the stereotypical books that degrades this culture in using teepees and bows and arrows, Jingle Dancer shows that Native Americans can live in a middle class house in the city and still follow their traditions. Jenna’s cousin in this book is a lawyer and all of her family members live in nice city houses. Jenna is seen in both sneakers and moccasins depending upon where she is going. This book is highly recommended for any elementary classroom to give an insight to the Native American culture.