false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172279941m/159666.jpg 159666 14 Nineteenth-century American pioneer life was introduced to thousands of young readers by Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved <I>Little House</I> books. With <I>The Birchbark House</I>, award-winning author Louise Erdrich's first novel for young readers, this same slice of history is seen through the eyes of the spirited, 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook the island. <br><br> 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) <I>--Karin Snelson</I> 154105 1999 The Birchbark House total:414|5:122|4:152|3:108|2:26|1:6| 414 1600 608 86 5 0 false false Wed Feb 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 19:36:37 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 21:25:07 -0800 2009
In The Birchbark House, Louise Erdrich has created a story about a loving family (and their pet crow, of course) living on The Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker, Lake Superi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Nov 25 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 26 19:52:43 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 26 20:06:06 -0800 2009

“The Birch bark House”, by Louise Eridich, is a response to the “Little House on the Prairie” series. It takes at westward expansion from the perspective of Native Americans. The book centers on an Ojibwa family on an island in Lake Superi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 10:54:33 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 11:29:00 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Feb 10 07:03:50 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 09:20:03 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 07:03:50 -0800 2009
Response: I enjoyed this quiet, descriptive novel very much. As I was reading, I felt there was more description than plot, and I reali...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 10:46:52 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 07:31:27 -0700 2009
Briefly, it is the story of a young Native American girl named Omakayas living in the late 1800's. We are introduced to her when she is just a little baby, and the lone survivor of a smallpox epidemic in her community. Rescued by and welcomed into an Ojibwa famil...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 11:36:37 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 11:54:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 31 14:40:28 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 10:18:05 -0700 2008 The Birchbark House follows a family of Anishinabe through one year, from summer to spring, through the eyes of an eight year old girl, Omakayas. Highlights are the illness that plagues the family in the winter, and the growing awareness of Omakayas' destiny. Bears also figure prominently in the sto...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Aug 01 14:09:10 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 14:09:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 17:12:07 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 17:59:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 20:47:40 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 21:23:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 05:16:51 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 05:21:55 -0800 2009 Started Jan 26, 2009 - finished 29 Jan 2009

A charming story of a young Ojibwa girl growing up on an island in Lake Superior in the mid 1800's - the book follows her thru a cycle of seasons, showing daily life and her interactions wi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 16:02:49 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 16:07:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 22 19:18:41 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 19:23:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 08:38:33 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 09:45:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Dec 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 07:05:28 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 07:05:28 -0800 2008

Louise Erdrich said, "I read the Little House books as a child and so have my children. I love their humor and warmth, but am disturbed by Ma's racism. Given their widespread use in the schools, I do not think it would be wrong to annotate some of her more in...more...]]> 4 0 false true Thu Aug 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 22 12:34:51 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 13 15:15:30 -0700 2009 1 The Birchbark House takes us through a year in the life of 8-year-old Omakayas of the Ojibwa, or Anishinabe. It's 1847 and, while the chimookomanug (white men) are there on the outskirts of life, Omakayas' family has been able to keep their home and way of life - despite much talk of possibly moving...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 12:04:57 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 14:58:45 -0700 2008 The Game of Silence. Now, it's been a few years since I read The Game of Silence, I read it for my Masters, but I remember liking it more than I liked this one. I do love how Edrich manages to weave in such wonderful history and information, but I wish there we...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Aug 01 15:56:06 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 11:14:07 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 25 22:45:26 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 22:47:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 08:29:21 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 08:34:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=159666