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Readers will be riveted by the daily life of this Native American family, in which tanning moose hides, picking berries, and scaring crows from the cornfield are as commonplace as encounters with bear cubs and fireside ghost stories. Erdrich--a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa--spoke to Ojibwa elders about the spirit and significance of Madeline Island, read letters from travelers, and even spent time with her own children on the island, observing their reactions to woods, stones, crayfish, bear, and deer. The author's softly hewn pencil drawings infuse life and authenticity to her poetic, exquisitely wrought narrative. Omakayas is an intense, strong, likable character to whom young readers will fully relate--from her mixed emotions about her siblings, to her discovery of her unique talents, to her devotion to her pet crow Andeg, to her budding understanding of death, life, and her role in the natural world. We look forward to reading more about this brave, intuitive girl--and wholeheartedly welcome Erdrich's future series to the canon of children's classics. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
SHE WAS NAMED OMAKAYAS, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful book to read aloud,
By Elizabeth "vegie5" (Chevy Chase, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Birchbark House (Hardcover)
Reading this book to my 6 and 8 year old sons has been a wonderful learning experience for us all. Some children's books drift by the adult reader, or fail to engage the kids. This one hooked us all. My 8-year-old talked about the story in school, and now his teacher is requesting that the school library order a copy since the other kids are eager to read it, too. I am ordering this copy for the teacher herself as a holiday gift. I know she will enjoy reading it, and sharing it with kids in years to come.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Children enjoyed this book,
By Maryanna (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Birchbark House (Hardcover)
I read this book aloud to my daughter's 3rd-4th grade class. Thirty or so children (ages 8, 9 & 10) listened attentively for 30 minutes near the end of each day for several weeks. If a child had been absent, other students would update him or her. Their teacher took over one day when I couldn't be there and read the chapter when the family is stricken with small pox. The next day a group of girls met me in the hall to tell me how sad it was when Omakayas' little brother died. Another time, the entire group burst out laughing at a comical event. The pictures were beautiful, but I chose not to show them while I read. I enjoyed having the Ojibwe words interspersed throughout the text. I had to slowly sound words out, and I believe that learning them together helped the students and me connect.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A different kind of little house in the big woods,
By
This review is from: The Birchbark House (Paperback)
A great tale. Author Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa, has written a story of 1847 Ojibwa life. The book is truly a labor of love, including such amazing elements as a detailed map of the area in which her story takes place, a glossary of terms, and multiple sources considered during the writing of this tale. Even more, the book is a compact series of small vignettes of standard Ojibwa life, crushing stereotypes and myths with sure swift prose. Erdrich has written a story that has truly created its own separate niche.Omakayas (or Little Frog) lives in a sturdy birchbark house in a land doomed one day to become Wisconsin. With her family we see her step through the paces of day to day existence. The book encompasses a single year in Omakayas's life; one filled with as much terror and despair as love and hope. Helping her family to battle smallpox, find food in a desperate winter, and deal with the small details imperative to survival, we watch Omakayas grow from an uncertain young girl to a competent, if still learning, young woman. The book is almost an answer to the Laura Ingels Wilder tales. Truth be told, the two titles have much in common. Both deal implicitly with Native American/white settler relations. Both look at the details of daily life, realistically describing everything from food preparation to parties. Even the illustrations of the book (drawn by author Erdrich herself) bear a great resemblance to the Garth Williams' pics we remember so well from the Little House books. But Erdrich has the benefit of hindsight and (let's face it) superior knowledge concerning the ways of both the whites and the Ojibwa. Her writing expertly allows her to create interesting variegated personalities that trump the one-dimensional stick figure Indians Wilder relied on so heavily. These characters have a harsh, but really great life. There's the buffoon, Albert LaPautre (half French) who continually claims to have had meaningful visions and dreams. There's Old Tallow, a powerful woman of her own means, surrounded by a pack of wolf-dogs and wearing coats woven from a variety of different furs. And then there's Omakayas herself, dreaming true visions and meeting true woodland creatures, even going so far as to train a crow of her own.
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