Today we’re delighted to share the cover for Rock Your Mocs by Laurel Goodluck (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian), illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)! The book will be released on October 10, 2023 by Heartdrum. Preorder it here. Keep scrolling for exclusive author and illustrator’s notes!

We’re stepping out

and kicking it up.

Wearing beauty on their feet—

as art, as tradition,

with style, with pride—

kids from different Native Nations know

every day is a day to ROCK YOUR MOCS! 

In this happy, vibrant nod to Rock Your Mocs Day, author Laurel Goodluck and artist Madelyn Goodnight celebrate the joy and power of wearing moccasins—and the Native pride that comes with them.

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A word from the author:

As someone from an intertribal background of Mandan and Hidatsa from the prairies of North Dakota and Tsimshian from a rainforest in Alaska, I was thrilled to write a book with children from many nations across North America feeling pride in their culture and identity. Rock Your Mocs highlights a celebration that Jessica “Jayln” Atsye, from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, started. A week in November is selected during Native American Heritage Month, and those participating wear their moccasins to school or work to show their Native joy. Previously I ran a Native teen leadership program. A huge focus was highlighting the student’s culture as an asset that can give them strength and comfort. So, Rock Your Mocs is an anthem to kids everywhere to rock their culture in any way they choose (wearing mocs is one great choice) by showing their pride, strutting their style, and honoring new and old traditions as they step into the future! — Laurel Goodluck

A word from the illustrator:

I was over the moon to be able to be a part of this book, which celebrates such a fun and impactful week each year. I was so inspired by all the real moccasins worn during Rock Your Mocs week, and throughout the year, by young First American children and their families. With every new pair I discovered and researched, I was blown away with how beautiful they were. Moccasins are so important, and unique, to our culture, our history, and our self-expression! It was an honor to draw them in this book. I hope that everyone enjoys celebrating their heritage and culture, just like the children in this story, during Rock Your Mocs week and all year long! — Madelyn Goodnight

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Laurel Goodluck lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her Diné husband, where they raised two children also bent on storytelling in journalism and acting. You can find Laurel riding her bike along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, saying hello to all the coyotes, cranes, geese, and ducks who cross her trail. Her previous book includes Forever Cousins, illustrated by Jonathan Nelson.

 

Madelyn Goodnight is a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Raised in Oklahoma before studying and earning a BFA in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, she now is back in Oklahoma City, where she lives with her two little dogs, Maisy and Henry. Her work reflects her love of color, imagination and childhood. She is the illustrator of The Pear Tree, Look, Grandma!/Ni, Elisi!, and Rock Your Mocs.