Rock your mocs

Goodluck (Mandan/Hidatsa/Tsimshian) and Goodnight (Chickasaw) introduce young readers to Rock Your Mocs Day (November 15), a commemoration of Native and First Nations cultural pride. Spotlighting individual children from specific tribes and locales, the story introduces Kyah, wearing Yurok mocs; Taktuk, sporting Inupiaq kamipiak; and baby Kalen, wearing Navajo slippers, among others. Goodluck emphasizes the variety of styles and names given to moccasins (reflecting available materials, climate requirements, and languages) and encourages children to celebrate their Indigenous identities. Goodnight's colorful illustrations employ a realistic style and often focus on the colors, designs, and beading present on the depicted footwear. Additional details (a Proud to Be Native T-shirt; a chalkboard depicting number words in Ojibwe) also support the text's encouragement of cultural identity. Goodnight also makes use of transparent, faded figures to depict ancestors and traditional lore, clearly delineating contemporary children and events from the past. Back matter includes additional information about this celebration, the names of the Indigenous groups included in the story, and the prevalence of mixed cultural identity among Indigenous children today.

A tribute to moccasins and the Indigenous kids who sport them. It's Rock Your Mocs Week! Children from tribes throughout Turtle Island don their moccasins with pride, celebrating their cultures and traditions as they dance, play, and attend school. The diversity of activities that the kids engage in makes it clear that mocs don't need to be special-occasion footwear donned only for ceremony. With each page turn, readers learn more about the significance of mocs: They are works of art, repositories of cultural knowledge, and, above all, a way to "honor our deep-rooted traditions while adapting to our sacred present." The book depicts a variety of moccasin styles and materials, worn by children from tribes throughout the United States and Canada. A pronunciation guide at the beginning of the story helps readers work out potentially unfamiliar words from different Indigenous languages. Both informative and inspiring, Goodluck's (Mandan/Hidatsa) text is concise. The upbeat tone is echoed in Goodnight's (Chickasaw Nation) bright illustrations, which feature people in urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. The children and adults are diverse in skin tone and hair texture. Backmatter explains the origins of Rock Your Mocs Day (and later Week) and discusses the cultural significance of moccasins. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Joyfully inspiring. (note from editor Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.