FOREVER COUSINS by L. Goodluck - Indigenous People's Day - Storytime for Preschoolers w/ Nonna Maria

On Indigenous People's Day, October 12, 2026, join Nonna Maria as she reads 'Forever Cousins', a story about two indigenous cousins living in the city who are separated after one of their families moves back to live on the Rez (the Reservation, the land belonging to their tribe). After a year apart, the two cousins spend time together again on the Rez. at a family reunion on their grandmother's farm and they discover that their friendship and love for each other is unchanged and that they are "Forever cousins!" 'Forever Cousins' highlights the ongoing impact of the 1956 Indian Relocation Act, which was the U.S. government's attempt to separate Native Americans from their cultures and encourage them to take on the white man's culture in what was called "assimilation." For many, the move away from their native land to the city resulted in poverty, discrimination and the loss of their cultural support system. Indigenous People's Day gives us the opportunity to appreciate the richness of Native American cultures as well as to recognize the great harm that Native Americans suffered at the hand of the white men and women who took their land from them and then tried to take away their culture, too. 'Forever Cousins' was written by Laurel Goodluck and illustrated by Jonathan Nelson in 2022. You can borrow a copy of the book from your local libray or you can buy a copy of the book at your local bookshop or you can buy it online. If you're buying the book online please consider buying it at https://bookshop.org/p/books/forever-... where a little bit of your purchase price is donated to the independent bookshop of your choice. What a lovely way to thank these shops for welcoming us all in to explore the world through the books on their shelves. "Ciao-ciao!" ("Bye bye" in Italian), Love, Nonna Maria