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Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman
Written by Sharice Davids with Nancy K. Mays
Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
Published in 2021
Publisher: Harper Collins
Reviewer: Debbie Reese
Review Status: Highly Recommended

In some books, I find one thing after another that I absolutely adore. Sharice's Big Voice is one of those books. First example? The back cover. It is a page from inside. It looks like this:

On that page, Sharice is studying. A stack of books is there. The text on that page tells us that she started law school so that she could work to make US laws more just and fair. Those words are cool, but look at the pages behind her!

My guess is that most readers will recognize "The Constitution of the United States" but why is our attention being drawn to Article 6? Do you know what Article 6 is about? Hint: it has to do with the other pages you see behind Sharice!

Sharice's Big Voice is a picture book whose contents make the case for why picture books should be read by everyone. If you're teaching social studies, teach this book and do a study of this page. Start by reading Article 6. Then, ask students to do research on the Treaty With the Winnebago, and the other items on that page. Put them into chronological order, after having read Article 6.

As I reflect on that page, I'm reminded of the article by Sarah B. Shear, Leilani Sabzalian, and Lisa Brown Buchanan. It is titled "Affirming Indigenous Sovereignty: A Civics Inquiry" and came out in 2018 in an educator's journal called Social Studies and the Young Learner. Here's the first sentence in the article:

Indigenous sovereignty is an essential component of civics education.

Here's the first sentence in the next paragraph:

Elementary social studies curriculum is notoriously silent about Indigenous sovereignty.

My guess is that most teachers want to give their students a solid education and might know a bit about Native sovereignty -- but not enough to feel confident in what they do. And so, they are silent about Indigenous sovereignty. The article has key words and definitions, realistic steps for you to take with your students as you begin to fill that silent space, and links to resources to help you.

Affirming Indigenous Sovereignty (the article) and Sharice's Big Voice can be your starting place to make a difference in what your students learn about Native peoples. Get the picture book, and if your librarian isn't able to get the article for you, let me know.

There's a lot more to say about Sharice's Big Voice but I gotta get outside and finish the paint job on our fence. I'll be thinking about this book and may be back to say more. It is one of my favorite books of the year. It affirms Native identity, and being physically, educationally, and politically active. This page is so important! It says (in part): "Growing up, I never would have guessed my path would lead to Congress. I didn't know that I would be one of the first Native American women in Congress and the first lesbian representative from Kansas."

And if you're wondering if it is tribally specific? The answer is yes! There's a page about kids in school asking Sharice "What are you." She tells her mom about it, and her mom tells her "We're members of the Ho-Chunk Nation." When I talk about the book online I'll use #Ho-ChunkVoice -- and you should, too.

Page after page, the words resonate and educate, and Pawis-Steckley's gorgeous Ojibwe art does, too! Get a copy for your classroom library, your home library, and ask your librarian to get copies. Then, talk about it with others. Share the knowledge that Sharice Davids and Nancy K. Mays provide in Sharice's Big Voice.

Back to say that good nonfiction for young people is very hard to find, especially biography or autobiography about Native people of the present day. If this book had been available when Betsy McEntarffer and I wrote "Indigenous Nations in Nonfiction" for Crisp, Knezek, and Gardner's Reading and Teaching with Diverse Nonfiction Children's Books, we'd have written about it, with tremendous joy.

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Canku Ota - September 2021 - Highly Recommended! SHARICE'S BIG VOICE: A NATIVE KID BECOMES A CONGRESSWOMAN

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Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman Written by Sharice Davids with Nancy K. Mays Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley Published in 2021 Publisher: Harper Collins Reviewer: Debbie Reese Review Status: Highly Recommended In some books, I find one thing after another that I absolutely adore.

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a Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman

This inspiring picture book autobiography tells the remarkable story of Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first LGBTQ congressperson to represent Kansas.

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Sharice's Big Voice - Multnomah County Library

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Sharice's Big Voice - Davids, Sharice, 1980- - This inspiring picture book autobiography tells the remarkable story of Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the first LGBTQ congressperson to represent Kansas.

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Molly and her mom do not always have enough food, so when they visit their local food pantry Molly she sees her classmate Caitlin who is embarrassed to be there, so Molly helps Caitlin realize everyone needs help sometimes.

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Saturday at the Food Pantry - Multnomah County Library

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Saturday at the Food Pantry - O'Neill, Diane, 1955- - Molly and her mom do not always have enough food, so when they visit their local food pantry Molly she sees her classmate Caitlin who is embarrassed to be there, so Molly helps Caitlin realize everyone needs help sometimes.

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Michelle will lend you this book. There is a Youtube of the reading too.

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Michelle will lend you this book. There is a Youtube of the reading too.

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Stacey's Extraordinary Words | Storytime Read Aloud

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Sharice Davis reads her book on YouTube. She is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights.

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Sharice Davis reads her book on YouTube. She is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights.

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sharice's big voice read aloud - Bing video

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"Sharice's Big Voice" Read Aloud by U.S. Representative Sharice Davids

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Paint pots, plant seeds, grow a flower to honor them. There are lots of other concrete activities to honor women on We are Teachers.

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Paint pots, plant seeds, grow a flower to honor them. There are lots of other concrete activities to honor women on We are Teachers.

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30 of Our Favorite Women's History Month Activities

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March is Women's History Month, coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8. It's a time to recognize the achievements of remarkable women from around the globe throughout history. This roundup of Women's History Month activities celebrates artists, scientists, leaders, and more women who made their mark.

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30 of Our Favorite Women's History Month Activities

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March is Women's History Month, coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8. It's a time to recognize the achievements of remarkable women from around the globe throughout history. This roundup of Women's History Month activities celebrates artists, scientists, leaders, and more women who made their mark.

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Sankofa reads Waangari Mathai's story on YouTube

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Sankofa reads Waangari Mathai's story on YouTube

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Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Million of Trees

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Antidefamation League's 7 Things to Do for Women's History Month

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Antidefamation League's 7 Things to Do for Women's History Month

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Read by the author on Youtube, find the right place for your class

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Read by the author on Youtube, find the right place for your class

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Astronomy @ Home Storytime: What Miss Mitchell Saw

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This abstract art lesson let my students choose which painting format they wanted to try out - a circular or an vertical stripe one.

Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891 - 1978) was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century.

Thomas is best known for her abstract paintings that she created after her retirement from a 35-year career teaching art at Washington's Shaw Junior High School. Teaching allowed her to support herself while pursuing her own painting part-time.

Thomas's early art was realistic, though her Howard professor James V. Herring and peer Loïs Mailou Jones challenged her to experiment with abstraction. When she retired from teaching and was able to concentrate on art full-time, Thomas finally developed her signature style. She debuted her abstract work in an exhibition at Howard 1966, at the age of 75.

You can read more about her Alma's life story on the National Museum of Women in the Arts website.

MATERIALS

Multimedia paper

Liquid tempera paint

Circle stencil

DIRECTIONS

1. If students chose to try Ms. Woodsey's circle painting, they had a stencil to first trace in pencil.

2. The circle was painted solid with tempera paint.

3. Dashed lines were painted around the circle until the paper was full.

4. If students wanted to do the vertical painting, they simply painted dashed lines, free form style.

FOLLOW UP PROJECT

Now it's easy to make a classroom mural to celebrate the creative work of African American artist Lois Mailou Jones.

All you need to do is purchase a Lois Mailou Jones Mural template from my PDF Shop, have each student color a page, and then tape or glue it back together according to included directions.

It makes a special work of art for your classroom, and because everyone takes part, a collaborative experience as well.

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Black History Artist: Alma Woodsey Thomas · Art Projects for Kids

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Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891 - 1978) was an African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. Thomas is best known for her abstract paintings that she created after her retirement from a 35-year career teaching art at Washington's Shaw Junior High School.

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Why do we celebrate Womens history month slide 

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Why do we celebrate Womens history month slide 