The Birchbark House

Locations
Call Number: J Fiction / Erdrich, Louise, Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Birchbark House 1
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	J Fiction / Erdrich, Louise	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	J Fiction / Erdrich, Louise	4-week checkout	Due 05-06-2024
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	J Fiction / Erdrich, Louise	4-week checkout	Due 04-24-2024
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Birchbark House 1	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Birchbark House 1	4-week checkout	Due 04-13-2024
Pittsfield Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Birchbark House 1	4-week checkout	Due 04-05-2024

Map on lining papers.
Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Birchbark House submitted by mk31 on July 26, 2014, 9:08am I liked this book, but it was a little bit slow at times. The author did a great job of telling what day-to-day life was like, and added a bit of silly humor.

I love this book! submitted by csickma on June 19, 2015, 12:07pm "The Birchbark House" is about a Ojibwa girl who is learning about herself and her loved ones. It's a tragic story that made me cry, but it's sad in a good way. It makes you want to read it again.

The whole story submitted by teri on August 11, 2016, 8:32am A native american version of Little House on the Prairie, but Louise Erdrich tells the whole story - not just the good things.

Realistic submitted by kferguson on August 18, 2016, 3:27pm Realistic

Good and Sad submitted by Maria Maguire on July 23, 2018, 8:54pm I read this book at least ten years ago, but I'll always remember it because it was the first book to ever make me cry. I liked learning about her life as a Native American and did enjoy the book, but prepare yourself for a sad story!

educational submitted by camelsamba on June 26, 2021, 11:51pm One of the descriptions of this book says "Readers will be riveted by the daily life of this Native American family." While I didn't find it particularly *riveting*, I did learn a lot about the customs and daily life of an Ojibwa family in the mid 1800s. Middle grade readers with an interest in native peoples or historical fiction will surely enjoy this.

Read the whole series! submitted by kellymk on July 23, 2023, 9:06am AADL should add all of the books in this important series to its collection. These are beautifully written, unvarnished tales of indigenous Anishinaabe life at the time of US/white midwestern expansion. Told from a child’s perspective, they are compelling stories and also great tools for talking about the US’s historic (and ongoing) clashes and mistreatment of indigenous peoples. My elementary-aged reader enjoyed me reading these to him and we were both sad when we finished the whole series (I had to dig for the 5th book in a different library system). As an added bonus we picked up some Ojibwe language from reading these together. Migwech to Louise Erdrich for writing these fantastic and meaningful books for young readers. There is so much substance in them.

Great start to a series submitted by srlorand on August 11, 2023, 9:15pm Louise Erdrich, unlike Laura Ingalls Wilder, gives the full picture of her fictional historical characters’ lives—she doesn’t leave out the saddest parts. This book stands on its own, as the beginning of a wonderful series. *And* everyone who has absorbed from other books the settlers’ biases and misconceptions about the indigenous peoples they were displacing has something to learn from it.

Good, but know it deals with some hard topics submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on August 18, 2023, 9:22pm I know this was a children’s book going in, but was surprised by the mature topics it dealt with. (I was thinking more like Little House and American Girl, but Hatchet might be a better comparison.) There was death, loss, grieving, and non-hunting violence towards animals that I am not accustomed to seeing in kids books, especially with a 7yo main character. My kids are older now, but I probably wouldn't give this to a kid before 10yo/ 4th grade or so.

Having said that, I think The Birchbark House is very well done, telling a great story for kids that focused on an 1800’s Anishinaabe (Ojibway) child’s day to day life (play, family, seasons, home) while also touching on the larger issues that affected her community (trading with White settlers, smallpox, treaties) in ways a child would encounter them. The sibling dynamics are great, and a highlight of the book.