News — Children

s “As Native people, we’re still fighting to crack the 2 percent mark for representation in the field. Two percent of stories published on our own land.” Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek Nation) has been an advocate for Native children’s literature since the publication of her first book Jingle Dancer 20 years ago. She’s continued to champion on behalf of children’s literature broadly while furthering her passion for sharing Native stories for young people. “As a child, I tended to avoid books with covers that hinted at any Native related content, probably because of negative experiences with inaccurate or bigoted...