Aly McKnight – illustratör

A stunning account of the Sacred Stone Camp's first day, where Indigenous activist LaDonna BraveBull Allard gathered water protectors to protest the Dakota Access PipelineThe land is sacred to the people. The people are sacred to the land.As Water Protectors gather to defend the water and protect the land against a black snake that threatens the rivers that millions of people depend on, a young girl looks to her Unci LaDonna and Lala Miles who are leading the way to the camp.Although she’s nervous about what might happen next, she finds strength from her family and the strangers all coming together to stand up for what’s right.  Written with love by Rae Rose, who shares many memories with LaDonna, this is a deeply moving tribute to LaDonna’s work and impact with stunning watercolor illustrations by Aly McKnight.

From Indigenous creative team Deidre Havrelock and Aly McKnight comes a powerful and exuberant story about the heritage, joy, and healing power of the Jingle Dress Dance—a perfect read-aloud picture book.It’s a special day—the day of the Jingle Dress Dance! Before the big powwow, there’s a lot to do: getting dressed, braiding hair, packing lunches, and practicing bounce-steps.But one young girl gets butterflies in her stomach thinking about performing in front of her whole community. When the drumbeats begin, though, her family soothes her nerves and reminds her why she dances.Emerging historically in response to the global influenza pandemic of 1918–19, the Jingle Dress Dance is a ceremonial dance of healing and prayer that still thrives today in many Indigenous and First Nations communities across North America.Lyrically and rhythmically written with lush, full-color illustrations, Why We Dance is a joyous celebration of a proud Indigenous tradition that inspires hope, resilience, and unity.

In this beautiful and dramatic story, bestselling author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Aly McKnight show readers how life was lived by Indigenous communities, offering the true history of life on the prairie.Before there was a little house on the prairie, there was a tipi on the prairie.Rose is a young Métis-Ojibwe girl who has traveled far with her family for the biannual buffalo hunt made up of hundreds of other Métis families. The ritual of the hunt has been practiced for generations, and each hunt must see the community through the next six months. But in recent years, the buffalo population has dwindled, and after days on the hunt, there are no buffalo to be found. Can Rose help her family find the herd that will enable them to survive the long winter?

In this beautiful and dramatic story, bestselling author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Aly McKnight show readers how life was lived by Indigenous communities, offering the true history of life on the prairie.Before there was a little house on the prairie, there was a tipi on the prairie.Rose is a young Métis-Ojibwe girl who has traveled far with her family for the biannual buffalo hunt made up of hundreds of other Métis families. The ritual of the hunt has been practiced for generations, and each hunt must see the community through the next six months. But in recent years, the buffalo population has dwindled, and after days on the hunt, there are no buffalo to be found. Can Rose help her family find the herd that will enable them to survive the long winter?

A beautiful, poetic picture book about how the emotions we feel inside can connect us with our ancestors and give us courage for the future.Late one night, a Cree girl's kookum (grandmother) tells her a bedtime story of how the world came to be. How long ago, embers fell from the sky and made all living things, big and small. And how, to this day, little pieces of the sky continue to live warm in our bellies.With lyrical, flowing text and powerful watercolor illustrations, this uplifting story illuminates how that fire within connects us all from generation to generation and is fed with every emotion we experience: It glows from joy when we’re picking fresh summer raspberries, hisses when emotions are a fierce storm, smolders with anger, and ignites when our bellies fill with laughter while splashing in puddles.Page by page, the girl learns how to appreciate and feed the embers with laughter and love, and to release feelings when they build like thunder by letting tears stream down like cleansing rain. She learns that the fire is what makes us strong and gives us courage, even when we doubt ourselves.A traditional Indigenous story to treasure, Fire in Your Belly shares the universal message that we are forever connected to the ancestors who passed down the fire generations ago—and that we each continue to carry it to brighten all that is, ever was, and will be.