Description
Laurel Goodluck comes from an intertribal background of Mandan and Hidatsa from the prairies of North Dakota and Tsimshian from a rain forest in Alaska. Jonathan Nelson is a visual artist. He is Diné (Navajo) and born into his mother’s clan, the Towering House Clan (Kiiyaa’áanii), and born for his father’s clan, the Mexican Clan (Naakai Dine’é).
Bahe and Dezba are helping their grandmother, Nali, move from her sheep camp home to their house. The family is packing up, carrying heavy boxes, and settling into a new life together, which isn’t always easy. At every frustration, they throw up their hands and exclaim, “Yaadila!” Good grief!
Bahe sees that this big change is hardest for Nali. But he has a secret plan. Whatever can he be doing with a bucket of water, all that yarn, and Dezba’s dollhouse?
In this heartwarming and quintessentially Navajo (Diné) story, author Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian) and illustrator Jonathan Nelson (Diné) together show a big change for an Elder made easier with a creative gesture of love and care