New series debuts in 2023!

Say boozhoo (hello) to Liam Kingbird! Liam is eight years old and lives on an Ojibwa reservation. Quiet, creative Liam is a thinker, a dreamer . . . and sometimes a worrier. New experiences can be scary for Liam, but talking with his mom, drawing pictures, and listening to his heart always steer him in the right direction.

Featuring an introspective Indigenous boy with a cleft lip and a beautiful spirit, Liam Kingbird's Kingdom is a charming series for K–3 that will resonate with readers who like to think before they leap. Debut children's author Andrew Stark was raised on the Ojibwa Indian Reservation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Andrew's personal experience is shared with his character Liam through their Ojibwa culture and cleft lip—features celebrated in the stories as traits that make Liam special.

The Liam Kingbird's Kingdom series publishes in January 2023 with four titles, but you can sneak a peek at one of the titles now!

Author Andrea L. Rogers shares helpful ideas for educators to guide students in learning about the forced removal and displacement of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. First and foremost, she urges to question everything you think you know about the Trail of Tears.

“When I began researching, I had little understanding of the logistics of moving the entire Cherokee Nation equaling about 16,000 people. I didn’t know about the internment camps. I didn’t know that many Cherokees died from preventable deaths because of their imprisonment. I didn’t know it was a time of drought and I hadn’t thought about how access to water would impact people being marched across a continent. In my book, I tried to distill years of historic information into a story that was accurate and that children could understand. In doing this work, I had to unlearn some things I grew up believing.”