Guest Post: Cynthia Leitich Smith on the Formidable and Necessary Power of Aunties and Grandmas

Here Come the Aunties! by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee), illustrated in joyful, frolicking spreads by Aphelandra (Oneida), is a tribute to all kinds of aunties, whether by kin or by choice. Each of these women carries her own energy into the world of the child narrator. From handmade moccasins to new baby gifts to history to hugs, each comes bearing gifts. The underlying storyline of that new baby weaves its way through text and images.

Now Cynthia’s written a companion book, Here Come the Grandmas! equally deserving of the exclamation mark in its title. Also illustrated by Aphelandra, the book opens with Grandma Kathy carrying branches “for the fire at the last summer camp out on the rez in Oklahoma.” It ends with a pizza party after a baseball game. In between are grandmas doing their grandma thing in a profusion of ways, all undergirded by affection and a wealth of talent.

Giveaway! Leave a comment at the end of this post by October 15, 2026, for a chance to win a free copy of Here Come the Grandmas! by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Don’t forget to include your email address so we can contact you if you end up being the randomly selected winner. Sorry, this offer is restricted to readers with continental US and Canadian mailing addresses.

Cynthia being as busy as she is—I am convinced she’s mastered the impossible art of being in three places at once!—I am thrilled to host this guest post from her about both of these books. “[H]ugs and high fives, jokes and laughter” to you, Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Formidable and Necessary: The Power of Aunties and Grandmas

by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Cynthia Leitich Smith at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Photo © Christopher T. Assaf.

Grandmas can never be celebrated enough, and aunties are finally getting their literary due. What formidable and necessary forces they are! Be they family, honorary or (self) appointed, these figures provide an understanding ear, extra pair of hands, and heartfelt guidance. Growing up, I was blessed with the love and support of remarkable women, and today, I do my best to fill their stylish shoes.

Family and community are reoccurring themes in my writing, and that includes chosen relations that mean just as much as those formed through birth or marriage. 

Countless studies show that reading creates a vicarious experience with real-life impacts on the mind and mental health. I’m hopeful that young readers feel these positive role models reinforced or introduced, if they’re missing in real life.

If anything, creating these books has reminded me that there is heroism in daily life, and no magic is more powerful than loved ones showing up for one another.

Here Come the Aunties was the first of these picture books that I conceived, and I’ve been fiddling with manuscripts on the theme for years. One of my most significant experiences was living with my great aunt Anne, who grew up in the same U.S. federal Indian boarding school as my grandfather. Especially because he died shortly before I was born, she took it upon herself to be his representative in my life, a deadly awesome combination of auntie and grandparent.

Does it take a village to raise a child, or does it take parents? 

My goodness! At a time when raising kids is ever more challenging, that’s an unnecessarily binary choice that’s become a societal debate. 

The answer of course is, ideally, both. The more grownups to nurture youngsters, the better! But unfortunately, not all children have a mom or dad (let alone both), or their parents are unable for whatever reason to raise them full-time. I’m thinking of military families wherein a parent is stationed far away or those in which there’s an untimely death or deportation or personal crisis. Cue the aunties, cue the grandmas—and the uncles and grandpas, too (but whether books about them are in the offing will depend vastly on the popularity of these first two)!

However, even in healthy, two-parent, nuclear families like the one I grew up in, my grandmas and aunties played a huge day-to-day role. In many cultures, including Indigenous ones, that’s the norm. I remember Saturday afternoons with my mom visiting the J.C. Penney’s where my grandmother sold ladies dresses, a part-time job that didn’t prevent her from waiting in kitchen for me to arrive home from school. I recall an auntie, who always arrived with diva panache, rocking a beehive hairdo and the courage to save herself from a lousy marriage. Those foundational relationships were as influential for the time and effort those women invested as for the behaviors they modeled.

It’s been nearly thirty years since I wrote Jingle Dancer, and looking over the two new books, it’s clear that my writing has become more confident and playful. I don’t shy away from the tough stuff of life, but I’m able to deftly integrate it in a way that’s resonant and developmentally appropriate for young readers. This isn’t to diminish my debut book. The text was the best I could offer at the time, and I only hope that thirty years from now, I’ll be able to reflect on my 2026 books and appreciate how much I’ve grown since. 

After all, I am an auntie, and aunties always have more to say!

They do, and they well deserve the bandwidth. Thank you, Cynthia Leitich Smith, for everything you do—your writing, your teaching, your unfailing generosity, your presence in the world of children’s books.

Leave a comment below by October 15, 2026, and enter a drawing to win a free copy of Here Come the Grandmas! by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Offer restricted to addresses in Canada and the continental USA.

Cyn’s books celebrating aunties and grandmas remind me of stories like this report from The Narwhal of girls and women fighting climate change in Canada’s hardest hit communities.