Mvskoke Nation member and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Poet Warrior; Girl Warrior) and Pura Belpré Award winner Adriana Garcia (All Around Us; Where Wonder Grows) combine their vast talents in For a Girl Becoming, an intricately constructed picture book comprised of a powerful free verse poem that speaks directly to a newborn baby, offering her advice as she grows.
A newborn baby's two Indigenous families bring ceremonial and practical gifts to the girl: "We carried tobacco and cedar, new clothes and joy for you.... They carried a cradleboard, hope, white shell, and turquoise for you." These objects appear in Garcia's sumptuous, magical paintings which depict both daily life and the world of spirit. Rainbows, smoke swirls from smudging, and powerful, racing horses--both of this world and not--appear throughout the illustrations. Readers will surely want to pore over this picture book and uncover all the beautiful details of this Indigenous family's life. A thought-provoking book for the mothers, grandmothers, and aunties in your life. --Melinda Greenblatt, freelance reviewer