(When the Shadbush Blooms cover illustration copyright 2007 by David Kanietakeron Fadden)

2008 Children's Choice Book Award Finalist
IRA/CBC Children's Choice
Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book
2008 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts
CCBC Choices 2008

When the Shadbush Blooms presents a year in the life of a Lenape family. The Lenni Lenape are the people native to eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, New Jersey, the Hudson Valley region of New York, parts of Maryland, and parts of Long Island and Manhattan Island. Their name has been variously translated to mean the real or true or original people.

Many Lenape lived along the great river which they called the Lenapewihituk (River of the Human Beings). When European colonists arrived, they named the river and bay the Delaware in honor of Lord de la Warre, the governor, and in time the Native people who lived by that river became known as the Delawares.

In addition to being hunters, gatherers, and fishers, the Lenape were expert farmers, whose agricultural practices had been developed for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans (who were known to the Lenape as the Shouwunnok or "salty people" because they had crossed the salt sea).

The Lenape are widely believed to be the original core people from whom the other Algonkian-speaking nations branched out. In acknowledgement of this belief and in honor of their wisdom and their reputation as peacemakers, the Lenape were known among other nations as the Grandfathers.

There are three main clans of the Lenape: the Munsee or wolf clan, the Unami or turtle clan, and the Unalachigo or wild turkey clan. Within each of these clans were numerous smaller groups. The Lenape had no central government but formed a loose alliance of small, independent family bands.

Women were accorded equality and great respect among the Lenape, and elders in the society were both honored and heeded. Children were greatly loved and usually disciplined only by word or example. Property was held in common, and the Lenape were lauded by William Penn for their generosity and light hearts. They held the earth and all it contained in reverence and believed themselves responsible for the protection and care of all the Creator provided.

Early in the colonial period, many Lenape - depleted by previously unknown diseases and other ills brought to their land by the Europeans - began to move west to escape European aggression and to find a home where they could again be free. After a journey long in both distance and time, most of their people - known by their English name, the Delawares - settled in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Canada.

Some Lenape, however, the Homeland members, chose to remain behind when the others left. It is their descendants who are found here in Pennsylvania, and whose story is told in this book. It is the writers' belief that in today's world - beset by violence, greed, devastation of the environment, and other ills - we could all profit by learning more about the Grandfathers' values and way of life.

-- 2008 Children's Choice Book Award finalist
-- 2008 IRA/CBC Children's Choice
-- 2008 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book
-- 2008 NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts
-- CCBC Choices 2008
-- 2008 Skipping Stones Honor Award
-- Featured in Kirkus Reviews' BEA/ALA Big Book Guide
-- Recommended on National Public Radio's "Tell Me More"
-- Recommended by the National Museum of the American Indian, Education E-Newsletter

And here's what reviewers have said:

"A terrific - absolutely terrific - children's book....a many-layered treasure." -- Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature

"A delightful book, beautifully written and illustrated." -- Native Peoples Magazine

"Hands-down the best, most beautiful, and most historically accurate children's book about the Eastern Woodland Native Americans that I have ever seen." -- Ellen Seagraves, Education Coordinator, Historical Society of Frederick County

"When the Shadbush Blooms is a beautiful volume, one that's a delight to read. It speaks, with great eloquence and accuracy, of the Lenni Lenape, those first nations people who lived and still remain in parts of the northeast. Both text and pictures invite you in, not as a stranger viewing a different culture, but as a welcome guest....When the Shadbush Blooms is one of those rarest of volumes in children's literature, a picture book that's not just about American Indians, but is a true sharing and celebration from and of a vibrant people. It's a book that deserves to be in every school and every library." -- Joseph Bruchac, Abenaki storyteller and writer

"When the Shadbush Blooms is a unique book, rooted in actual lives of the past and present...This sensitively written, exquisitely illustrated, well-conceived and executed book explores universal themes of continuity and change while depicting the rich and sustaining life of a Lenape family." -- Lyn Miller-Lachmann, MultiCultural Review

"Over and against the plethora of 'multicultural' writing for young children, this is the one I would choose to show them our pre-conquest lives: the balance of life, the belonging to the land and to each other, and how, for the fortunate among us, it is still that way. The traditions live, we adapt; what sustained us then sustains now." -- Doris Seale, editor/author of Through Indian Eyes

"With quiet dignity, [this book] transmits strong thoughts. The language is crystalline, pure and sparkling, nothing wasted; nothing more needed. When the Shadbush Blooms is a delightful way to introduce a young reader to the lives and ways of American Indians." -- Karen Coody Cooper, National Museum of the American Indian

"While the beautiful illustrations may first attract you to Where the Shadbush Blooms, the words that describe the feeling of joy that children take in their families now, and took long ago - and the simple pleasures that hold families together - will hold you and any child. Kids will be fascinated by the historical differences in clothing and tools, and interested in similarities over time. They will ask you to read and reread the story...While it describes the Original People, it applies to all people and to the strength of families everywhere. It deserves to win the Caldecott." -- Susan Gilbert Beck, librarian and teacher

"Across double-page illustrations, two Lenape Indian families engage in similar activities - an informational juxtaposing of the activities of a family from years past as they fish, garden, harvest, and play alongside their contemporary counterparts. As the book moves from season to season, one narrative functions as the description for both side-by-side illustrations - an effective visual comparison...informative and useful, a gentle introduction to the fact that Native Americans are an important part of our history - and of our present." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Teachers will be thrilled with the authority the author brings to the story and the wealth of information contained in a short picture book...[The book] shares a full year in the life of both a historical Lenape family and a contemporary Lenape family...seamless illustrations move from one page to another with similar scenes in the two eras. This book will find a great deal of use." -- Peggy Dilner, University of Delaware

"A beautiful story of seasonal and generational change." -- Curriculum Resource Center

"The design is effective, and images in the gutter creatively link the two eras together. [The authors] poetically tell the story and Fadden uses lush hues in his sensitive acryllic illustrations...Share this book with children of all backgrounds during celebrations of families, traditions, and seasons." -- Shawn Brommer, School Library Journal

"The authors and illustrator have done a very good job here of showing how the Lenni Lenape have maintained their traditions even as they live in the modern world. It's obvious how useful When the Shadbush Blooms would be in an educational setting for instruction on Native Americans. But I found this also to be a very sweet story about families who have deeply cared about each other through the generations." -- Colleen Mondor, eclectica.org

"Each spread in this beautiful picture book has two texts: one in Lenape and one in English; one historical, one modern...The merits of this book are twofold: children will learn about an ancient way of life and at the same time consider their own lives." -- Jada Bradley, ForewardMagazine.com

"In this picture book, you will see the traditional way of life alongside the contemporary one. There is a constant tie between the two, but each is unique and lovely in its own way. Highly recommended." -- Tasha Saecker, Kids Lit

"Wonderful picture book that links a cultural past to a contemporary cultural identity still very much alive." -- Goodreads.com

"When a Lenape girl goes to the stream to fish for shad, she knows that another girl did the same thing generations before. She knows that, through the circle of the seasons, things change and things remain the same, as they always have...When the Shadbush Blooms is a poem, a song, a prayer for Earth and her inhabitants." -- oyate.org

Order When the Shadbush Blooms (and other fine children's books with Native American themes) from Oyate, a Native organization working to see that their lives and histories are portrayed honestly.