Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People, by S. D. Nelson -- Day 46

Sitting Bull was a great Lakota/Sioux warrior and chief whose story chronicles the dignity of native peoples and the disastrous intersection of two cultures as wasichus (white men) moved into their lands over the course of the nineteenth century. In Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People, author and illustrator S. D. Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Dakotas, tells this story in the voice of Sitting Bull. At its best, the relationship between native peoples and whites was uneasy; at its worst it brought destruction of native culture and death to many. Sitting Bull relates that though white men said they came in peace, trading posts turned into forts, and buffalo that provided primary sustenance for native inhabitants became prized by the newcomers only for their skins, threatening the existence of whole native communities. Bloody battles and treaties marked the relationship between native peoples and the U.S. government. Some agreed to the U.S. treaties, living in designated areas and no longer hunting. Sitting Bull resisted limitations on the ways of his Lakota people, speaking always of the relationship to the land and its creatures as Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery or sacred spirit that sustains life. Ultimately, after General Custer was overwhelmed in the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, Native Americans were parceled into reservations; Sitting Bull went to the Standing Rock Agency in North Dakota, dying by gunshot in 1890. Enormous complexities are contained in this history, and it can be told from many points of view. The immediacy of Nelson’s telling, through the words of Sitting Bull and dramatic artwork, will engage readers in searingly important issues that remain a part of deep national concerns. Maps and extensive endnotes amplify Sitting Bull’s story, inspiring further exploration. Ages 9 up.         

Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger, by Anita Silvey -- Day 45

Folksinger Pete Seeger had a remarkable career, one that spanned seven decades and included song writing, banjo playing, deep dedication to involving his listeners (often children) in the joy he took in song, relentless activism, his own strong family, and success measured by the enormous impact of his work on generations of fans. He believed in the power of song to make a difference, and it did – in his support of labor rights, disarmament, civil rights, freedom of speech and environmental awareness. In Let Your Voice Be Heard: The Life and Times of Pete Seeger, author Anita Silvey draws on personal interviews with Seeger and extensive primary documents to create a lively, informative biography. Silvey suggests that “at a conservative estimate, Pete Seeger performed live for five million people in forty different countries” over the years with a repertoire based on the long tradition of folk music and his own conscience and passion for social justice. Joining with others he contributed such songs as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “We Shall Overcome” to an enduring legacy of social expression. We learn about his time as a cataloguer in the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, his alliance with The Weavers folk group, the decade he spent in the shadow of accusations by the House Un-American Activities Committee, his important musical give-and-take with other performers such as Woody Guthrie, his advocacy of Hudson River cleanup with the construction of the sloop Clearwater – and through it all, Seeger honed and shared his music and perspective. In summary, says Silvey, “His life stands as a testament for social and political change, reminding everyone to fight for what they believe in and to let their voices be heard.” Ages 10 up.

Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm -- Day 44

The narrator of this outstanding picture book is none other than the sun. In concise, clear words, the sun explains that, while its “light-energy explodes in all directions” in infinite space, a tiny but very important part of it comes to planet Earth and indeed becomes the energy behind all living things. Green plants catch the sun’s energy with chlorophyll, breathing out oxygen and breathing in carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. Humans, who don’t have green leaves, receive essential energy from eating seeds, fruits and flowers. Plus, humans are dependent on the oxygen breathed out by plants, and in turn the carbon dioxide we breathe out is processed by plants, continuing the cycle. Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life explains a key scientific concept beautifully and simply, with four pages of endnotes providing additional details about the complex “machinery” that supports life on Earth. Award-winning writer and artist Molly Bang and MIT professor Penny Chisholm, recipient of the National Medal of Science awarded at the White House in 2013, have collaborated on several additional books about the importance of sunlight – Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas, Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth and Rivers of Sunlight: How the Sun Moves Water Around the Earth. They provide a valuable, thoughtful foundation for understanding the delicate balance of Earth’s ecology and our role as stewards of our Earth. Ages 5 up.