Gabriel's Winter Count

A warm, intergenerational picture book introducing the Lakota tradition of winter counts and celebrating resilience, remembrance, and connection across distance.

A moving story of love and tradition—perfect for kids discovering their role in their family and the power of remembering.

Gabriel's parents are leaving to serve, and he will stay with his grandmother, his unci. When Gabriel forgets to give his parents a parting gift, an important tradition in their Lakota family, he is bereft.

But then he learns about winter counts from Unci, and slowly but surely he both waits for his parents to return and becomes the keeper of the winter count in their family.Andrea M. Page is an enrolled citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota. Andrea belongs to a large family, and she’s been fortunate to travel often and experience different cultures. She writes about untold stories and people who inspire, and she hopes that sparks commitment in others to make our world a better place. She is the author of Who Was Wilma Mankiller? and Sioux Code Talkers of World War II. Andrea has lived in upstate New York all her life.

Alfreda Beartrack Algeo is a proud enrolled member of the Kul Wicasa Tribe of the Oceti Sakowin Nation (Sioux) in South Dakota and is dedicated to her family and community. Her work is showcased in numerous private collections, museums, and galleries. Alfreda has authored and illustrated several children’s books, including The Day the Earth Rose Up, selected by the Wyoming Humanities Council to represent the state at the Library of Congress in 2023; Father Eagle and the Hunter; Halhata na Thathanka / Magpie and Buffalo; Bear Heart and the Evergreen Tree; and The Cottonwood Sings. Alfreda lives in Palisade, Colorado, where she makes art and manages her small fruit farm. www.matonunpallc.com