"Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star's stories. Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world. In simple and direct language, Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the...

In these poems, the joys and struggles of the everyday are played against the grinding politics of being human. Beginning in a hotel room in the dark of a distant city, we travel through history and follow the memory of the Trail of Tears from the bend in the Tallapoosa River to a place near the Arkansas River. Stomp dance songs, blues, and jazz ballads echo throughout. Lost ancestors are recalled. Resilient songs are born, even as they grieve the...