Abstract
Our contribution to the Occasional Paper Series is driven by the editors request for articles that will provide readers with an opportunity to learn how to use Indigenous Children’s and Young Adult Literature (ICYAL) texts responsibly. In our experience, children encounter far too much anti-Indigeneity in literature, and therefore the classroom.. Before using a book, a teacher must select the book they plan to use in the classroom. If the teacher is seeking to “provide opportunities for students to develop interpersonal relationships between real live kids and those who live only on the page,” (Leitich Smith, 2020) we think it is crucial that teachers consider the identity of the book’s author. We also think it is imperative that teachers choose books by Native writers.
Author Biography
Trisha Moquino
Trisha Moquino is from the Native Nations of Cochiti, Kewa & Ohkay Owingeh. She is a teacher, author, and scholar who co-founded the Keres Children’s Learning Center (KCLC) in Cochiti Pueblo, NM, where she serves as a Keres Speaking Montessori Guide for elementary children. Additionally, Trisha co-created the Indigenous Montessori Institute, where she works with adults to train the next generation of educators in Indigenous Montessori pedagogy. Currently working on several writing projects, Trisha’s debut picture book is set to be published by Candlewick Press in 2028. Represented by Lara Perkins at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Trisha weaves her passion for education into her writing, bridging the classroom and the page to celebrate and center Native Nations—their lifeways, languages, and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Debbie Reese
Debbie Reese studies and writes about depictions of Native peoples in children’s books. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Illinois and a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State. Her website, American Indians in Children’s Literature, is used by educators and librarians. As a mother and, now, as a grandmother, she keeps the well-being of Native children uppermost in her mind.
Tiffany Jewell
Tiffany Jewell is a mama, an educator, and the bestselling author of This Book Is Anti-Racist, The Antiracist Kid, and Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned In School. She grew up in Syracuse, New York and currently lives in Western Massachusetts with her young storytellers, her partner, a little dog with a big bark, and a turtle she’s had since she was 9 years old! Tiffany spends her days baking bread, searching for the most delicious chai lattes, and dreaming of a world that is truly fair and just.
Katie Kitchens
Katie Kitchens is a White, queer, Jewish parent, educator, and researcher. Their nearly 15 years as a classroom teacher and instructional coach in district, charter, and non-profit Montessori environments deeply informs their work and keeps them optimistic about the possibility for change. Katie’s research primarily focuses on White families who are striving to create antiracist family cultures.
Alaina (Laini) Szostkowski
Alaina (Laini) Szostkowski (she/they) was born on the traditional homelands of the Massachusett people, whose present-day descendants are the Massachusett Tribe of Ponkapoag. Laini currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Tewa-speaking lands, and co-teaches with Trisha Moquino and an incredible community of Keres-language educators as the English-speaking Montessori Elementary and Adolescent Guide at Keres Children’s Learning Center in Cochiti Pueblo. Laini is honored to contribute to this paper alongside many mentors and inspiring folx.
Recommended Citation
Moquino, T.,
Kitchens, K.,
Szostkowski, L.,
Jewell, T.,
&
Reese, D.
(2025).
The role of native and non-native teachers in selecting children’s literature by native authors.
Occasional Paper Series,
(54), 110-121.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1565
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons