Shadbush Book for Sale

Book cover When the Shadbush Blooms

fishing modern    Excerpts– “My grandparent’s grandparents walked beside the same stream where I walk with my brother, and we can see what they saw.”  Told by Traditional Sister and Contemporary Sister, each from her own time, this is a book about tradition and about change. Then and now are not so very different when the shadbush blooms.

Today when a Lenape Indian girl ventures to the stream to fish for shad, she knows that another girl did the same generations before. Through the cycle of the seasons, what is important has remained: being with family, knowing when berries are ripe for picking, listening to stories in a warm home.

“The book captures so much that is Native: cycles, the particular roles and joys of people of different ages, plants and animals as integral parts of life, the richness of lives lived simply, and our connection to the past, and thus to the future. The language is crystalline, pure and sparkling, nothing wasted; nothing more needed.” ‹ Karen Cody Cooper (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), Museum Training Coordinator, National Museum of the American Indian.

We have won the:
CCBC Choice 2008,
Children’s Cooperative Book Center Award,
2008 Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts.
Recommended to teachers by the National Museum of the American Indian, Spring 2008, Education E-Newsletter,
Recommended on National Public Radio’s “Tell Me More” November 2007,
Featured in Kirkus Reviews’ BEA/ALA Big Book Guide 2007.

Books for Sale

Purchase the paperback edition of When the Shadbush Blooms for $18.00 for one copy or two copies for $36.00, sales tax and shipping included (United States shipment only).  If you order more than one copy of the book, please let us know and we will send you an invoice.

We have a limited supply of hardbound books, please ask us.  Perfect for school libraries.

​TO ORDER MULTIPLE COPIES, and for book shipping and handling to overseas friends or outside the United States, please contact the author at palenape@enter.net for quote and/or invoice.  Waníshi (Thank you)!

Use your Paypal account or your Visa, Mastercard or other major credit card through Paypal. Click on the Paypal icon to begin.  The cost per book is $18.00 including shipping and tax!  Waníshi (Thank you)

Note: If you wish to have the author autograph your book, please include the dedication name in the Paypal message text. You will receive acknowledgement via email of your purchase, and an estimated shipping time. (Books are shipped Media Mail and take 7-10 days to arrive in the continental United States.)

From the author:  When the Shadbush Blooms demonstrates how much Lenape children share with children of every other heritage: family relationships, seasonal activities, work and play. At the same time, it shows how similar all of those activities and relationships today are to those experienced by Lenape children centuries ago. My ancestors invented their own calendar based on the local environment. This was a long time ago, and we still use the calendar today. It is but one element that serves to remind Native children of their contributions and instills cultural pride. It’s not easy being a Native American, especially a child, as the discrimination is so subtle and pervasive. I hope that showing the continuity of Native culture and its commonality with other cultures will give non-Native children a better understanding of our past and present, and of the humanity we share. I hope, too, that the book will be useful to Lenape children. They are our future leaders and need to be reminded that we are still “The People”. We have endured; we are still here.

Carla J.S. Messinger, author of When the Shadbush Blooms, is a descendant of the Lenape (Delaware) Indians of Pennsylvania and is the Director of Native American Heritage Programs. She was a presenter for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council’s Commonwealth Speaker’s Bureau.  For more information on these programs and how to have one presented in your community, please visit lenapeprograms.info.

Published by

Pa Lenape

Carla Messinger Cultural Educator and Consultant Native American Heritage Programs Program Presenter Author Founder / Director of Native American Heritage Programs (2002-ongoing) As a descendant of the Lenape (Delaware) Indians, who were the first inhabitants of eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and part of New York, I wished to present a true picture of early American Indian life, refuting stereotypes and developing an understanding of the Lenape peaceful, nature-centered lifestyle that could be of value to our competitive, ecologically-troubled modern society. Our mission is "to present, preserve, and perpetuate the history, lifeways, culture, and contributions of the Lenape and other Native American groups," and as Director of Native American Heritage Programs I continue that commitment today. Speaker for Pennsylvania Humanities Council “Commonwealth Speakers Bureau”, (2004-2005) (2008-2009) (2010-2011) Author of the award winning children’s book When the Shadbush Blooms (Fall 2007). (Random House-Penguin)