Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. Jingle dancer. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN: 0-688-16241-X.
Jingle Dancer is the story of a young girl, Jenna, who wants to take part in the powwow. She is excited to finally be old enough to jingle dance. However, even though she is old enough, there isn't enough time to order the jingles for her dress. Jenna visits four different people�some friends, some neighbors, and some that are family members�in order to get enough jingles to sew on her dress in time for the powwow. Each person she visits gives her the jingles willingly, and asks her to dance for them. (I should also mention that she always asks very respectfully. Each time the text says she doesn't want anyone else's dress to lose its voice.) At the end of the book, Jenna has the four needed rows of jingles for her dress, and she is able to join in the jingle dance at the powwow.
Jingle Dancer is set in contemporary times. Unlike many other books depicting Native Americans, it is not set in the distant past. Furthermore, the author gives it a specific setting: Oklahoma. Jenna is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and is also of Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. This information is also important for the reader to know. It makes the cultural details specific instead of generic in nature. The author's note is extremely important in this book. It provides the reader with more information about the culture. There is also a glossary.
The illustrations are by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, a husband-wife team. Van Wright is African-American, and Ying-Hwa Hu is Asian-American. The illustrations are beautiful. They are very expressive. The characters come to life. They look like they have feelings. For example, I like the picture of Jenna hugging her grandma on page nineteen. I also like how they depict modern culture in addition to hints of native culture. In other words, they live in neighborhoods like everybody else. Their houses look like other people's houses. Their furnishings look the same, etc. Yet occasionally the reader can "spot" elements of Native culture�fry bread, dream catchers, cactus, Native-American jewelry, moccasins, baskets, etc. These small details (along with the text of course) communicate to the reader that Native Americans are not "extinct" but are well blended into modern-day society.
I enjoyed this book. I was very happy to find a book about Native Americans that was set in modern times instead of being a legend or folklore or depicting the struggle between whites and Indians on the frontier. I think it is very important to show how the culture exists in the "real" world.
Culture Four focuses on Native American literature for children and young adults. Readings for this culture include: