Award-Winning Diné Author Self-Publishes Second Book in Honor of The Voiceless
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ward-winning author Daniel Vandever has self-published his second book, Herizon, three years after his debut, Fall in Line, Holden!, was recognized by the American Indian Library Association (AILA) as an honor book for the American Indian Youth Literature Award. Herizon is a wordless children’s picture book that details the journey of a Diné (Navajo) girl as she helps retrieve her grandmother’s flock of sheep with the aid of a magical scarf. Vandever collaborated with artist Corey Begay of Cedar Springs, AZ to create Herizon based on their experience of getting Fall in Line, Holden! published with Salina Bookshelf in 2017. Begay’s illustrations for Herizon were commissioned to better drive the story’s narrative, and to allow Vandever’s vision of keeping the wordless book intact. “Having the book wordless was important to me, because it was written for the voiceless, the overlooked, and the forgotten,” explained Vandever, 34, of Haystack, NM. “That includes those without a voice in the classroom, at home, and within the community.” Wordless books allow readers to connect with stories in a personal way and develop reading comprehension skills through illustrations. The use of no words allow children to share their own interpretations because there is no biased language to interfere with the telling of the story. Parents and teachers get a glimpse into what a storyteller values, where they are from, and how they interpret the world around them. Self-publishing allows authors to maintain full control of their story, but it also presents challenges as compared to traditional publishing. Self-publishers
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February 2022
