Books : Birchbark House, The

Rating: - The Real Little House on the Prairie
Generations of American children have grown up reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm in one of those generations. These stories gave us a view into settlers moving into formerly Indian territories and the hardships of breaking new lands to the plow, fighting weather, droughts, floods, and illness. These stories are our stories of conquering the prairie West. But there's another story that needs to be told and this story is of the Indians we died of disease and starvation and were moved off the lands so that white settlers could build farms and towns.

Laura Ingalls Wilder told the only stories she could tell - one dimensional tales of white people in a white nation. Louise Erdrich tells the story she is equipped to tell - one of a rich group of people living together in the Northern prairie lands. In this story Omakayas is a young Ojibwe girl living with her family, but the characters aren't all Indian. There's Albert LaPautre, a Frenchman who bumbles through trades and wild visions. There's Omakayas' father who works to pay off his yearly debt to the trading post and knows how to play chess so well that he can sometimes win enough food to help his family through hard times. There's Old Tallow, a medicine woman with a pack of angry dogs who teaches kind lessons through harsh examples.

For Omakayas and her family life is both hard and wonderful. There's enough sadness in the book to make you cry and enough happiness to make a child play-act the parts. The one thing I love about native storytelling is the respect shown to animals and plants that are needed to survive. Ms. Erdrich tells of this relationship with the skill of a master storyteller.

This book is richer and more complete than Little House on the Prairie. It's a responsible book and deserves more accolades and a greater following than that earlier work. It's brilliant and sensitive and fun. Everyday life never made me feel so fully. Please let all children in your life read this beautiful book.

- CV Rick, May 2008

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Rating: - Worthy tear-jerker for adults, not just children
After reading so many praises from young adult readers, I'd like to make a suggestion for adult readers of historical fiction. I read this book, not so that I could instill a love of reading for my children, but rather, for my own pleasure in reading young adult fiction. The books may not involve many subplots, intrigues, and thickly woven characterizations, but certain ones can immerse you into their world of historical make-believe and even lead you to tears. I for one cried when reading this book. The way Louise Erdrich handles the coping of virulent illness and death through the eyes of a child is incredible. Not only does she paint this glorious heroine from a late 1800s Ojibwa girl, but she makes me dwell on the delicate vitality of the human soul and the subtle interconnectedness of each other. Yes, this book describes accurately the lives of the Ojibwa people of that time, but more importantly, above the cultural/historical lesson, the most prominent lesson from Erdrich's storytelling is her unveiling of human transformation into maturity clothed in the culture of the Ojibwa girl, Omakayas. Her auspicious past, her gifts with animals, her perseverance in caring for her family during the smallpox epidemic, and her coping with her brother's death -- for readers to feel that the book has a slow start, Erdrich more than likely chose to portray Omakayas' life in that way because that was exactly the pace it was. Meaning to say, it's not always violence and passion every minute, every chapter. The life of Ojibwas had a steady rhythm that followed the course of nature and only when the white settlers introduced themselves did that rhythm falter. For people who'd like an exciting quick read having to do with Native American history, I can't think of any. But for people who want to see life through a young girl's eyes -- life that involved hard work, sacrifice, love, death and living with what nature has provided, then this book is an excellent choice. Otherwise, there are a lot of old western novels that involve Native Americans (inaccurately of course) that would provide more of a thrill ride, if thrills are what you seek.

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Rating: - purchased for school
I purchased this book for my daughter who is attending CSUN. It arrived in a week and was in good condition, just like the description said.
Very happy with this purchase and many others.

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Rating: - Wonderfully Insightful Narrative of Native American Life Early in This Century
This sweet, tender, sometimes humorous book, chronicles a year in the life of Omakayas, a seven year old girl who lives with her tribe on an island near Lake Superior. The book is divided into four main sections, each relating to a season of the year, just as the Native America daily life is based. Through Omakayas, children learn as they read about how she helps build a birch bark house, how she does her chores, and many other important details of Native American life. This makes the book especially invaluable for the fifth grade Social Studies curriculum. Many Native American words are used throughout this book, but this is done in a manner which makes their meaning apparent. There is even a glossary for these words in the back of the book. Children will love this book as Omakayas makes friends with animals and deals with feelings about her family, loss, fear, happiness, and contentment, as well as other feelings familiar to the young reader.

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Rating: - half and half
We had to read the Birchbark House for a 7th grade class assignment. I thought this book was kind of interesting, because it had some funny parts and some sad parts in the middle of the story. In the beginning it was really boring. Sometimes it's hard to understand because they used a lot of Indian words but they provide a glossary. I think thee book could use some more funny and violent parts to get people interested to read more. I gave this book 3 stars because it was an o.k. book. It was kind of boring in the beginning but it got a lot better. It needed more funny parts. It was a good book but not one I would have picked. I would recommend this book to high schoolers, but they have to have a little Indian in them to understand you must like: sad, boring, exciting, and funny to enjoy this book.