Yáadilá!: Good Grief!

by Laurel Goodluck, Jonathan Nelson (Illustrator)

Overview

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. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063274402
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/14/2025
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Laurel Goodluck is the author of many books for young readers, including the award-winning Forever Cousins, Rock Your Mocs, She Persisted: Deb Haaland, and Too Much: My Great Big Native Family. She comes from an intertribal background of Mandan and Hidatsa from the prairies of North Dakota and Tsimshian from a rainforest in Alaska. Laurel lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her Diné (Navajo) husband, where they raised two sons. Visit her online at laurelgoodluck.com.

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, Mexican Clan (Naakai Dine’é). Jonathan holds a master’s degree in visual communication from the University of Arizona and works as an illustrator, fine artist, and creative consultant.