Native American Children's Literature

Hucko, Bruce. A Rainbow At Night: the World in Words and Pictures by Navajo Children. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1996.

A Rainbow at Night: the World in Words and Pictures by Navajo Children is a non-fiction children’s book written by Bruce Hucko. Hucko taught art on the Navajo Reservation in Utah for over ten years. The book is written in a reader friendly manner. Each page shows a piece of artwork, a photo of the child who made the art, some background information by Hucko on the art, the child’s description of his or her art, and lastly some questions to use in a classroom that relate to the piece of art.

One of highlights of this book is that contains a contemporary viewpoint on Native Americans and their culture. Furthermore, this viewpoint is told through the eyes of Native American children. An element of this book that I found to be extremely appealing is the questions listed at the bottom of the page. These questions allow non Native American students a way to relate Native American students. Furthermore, it supports the idea of cultural universals: emphasizing similarities between cultures and communities before discussing differences. For example, one set of questions asks, “What is your family’s story? Where did you come from? Ask your parents and grandparents, and listen. Draw the most important parts of the story large on your paper…” (Hucko, p. 6)

Overall, I find this book appealing and would use it in a classroom library. It is essential to represent Native American people in a modern light, rather than the traditional folklore students are used to. Also, the art and stories of the children in the book create a peer teaching environment that can be carried over into the classroom.