Braided Roots: The Interweaving of History, Family, and a Father’s Love

＂As a little girl’s father loving braids her hair, he shares with his daughter the strength and resilience of their ancestors, Freedmen who walked the Trail of Tears from Mississippi to Oklahoma＂--

Pasha Westbrook, a multiracial writer and a Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen descendant, lives among the Arizona cacti with her husband and three beautiful boys. When she’s not voraciously reading, you’ll find her penning poetry, nourishing her plant babies, concocting herbal remedies, and reveling in nature as often as possible.

Madelyn Goodnight is the award-winning illustrator of many children’s books, including Can You Hear the Plants Speak? by Nicolas Hummingbird and Julia Wasson; Powwow Day by Tracy Sorell, an ALA Notable Children’s Book; and Rock Your Mocs! by Laurel Goodluck, an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book. Madie’s work greatly reflects her love of childhood and all the wonder and imagination that she still associates with it. She is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and endeavors to use a wide range of media and outlets for her art so that her art is as diverse, energetic, and playful as the children who are seeing it.