The Navajo

A True Book

by Kevin Cunningham, Peter Benoit

Explores the Navajo Indians, the nation's relationship with Spaniards and settlers, culture, crafts, and more. A True American Indian series allows readers to experience what makes each American Indian people distinctive and exceptional. Readers will get to know each tribes culture, influence and history. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study.

Genres: Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Dawn Laws]

This is a true story about the Navajo Indians. It talks about their culture and history. Important historical events are portrayed through both writing and a variety of pictures and illustrations.

I rated this 5/5 because it covers a lot of information about the Navajo Indians. It also offers short quizzes for readers to check for understanding.

[Sean Day]

Title: The Navajo
Author: Kevin Cunningham & Peter Benoit
Book level: 5.8
Book summary: This book is about the history of the Navajo from where they come from, how they lived, their conflicts and modern times.
Characteristics: Multicultural Literature
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits: Organization brings the reader through this book.
Classroom Integration: This can be integrated into history, social studies, reading and literature for part of a Native American unit lesson plan.

[Erin R]

This informational picture book covers many aspects about the Navajo nation, people, and culture. It discusses their origins, important historical events, cultural and religious aspects both currently and in the past, the language, and much more. It is a very engaging book and offers a lot of interactive possibilities, including short quizzes for readers to take to test their comprehension. I would incorporate this into the classroom to teach reading in the content areas, specifically social studies. This book lends itself very well to teaching pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading strategies because of its interactive features, vibrant pictures and graphics, and more. Even though the book is presented in a picture book format, I would say that it is most appropriate for 3rd grade and above reading levels due to the complexity of the vocabulary used as well as the topics presented.