By Gabriella Kaye
Ms. Kaye is the MPMRC’s Children’s Librarian.
It is easy to see why so many children, and adults, love “The Birchbark House,” which has won or been nominated for awards in the past two years from Publishers Weekly and the American Library Association. Author Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa, is best known for her outstanding novels for adults and this, her first book for younger readers, is excellent.
It is the story of a year (1847-48) in the life of Omakayas or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. She lives with her extended, loving family at Moningwanaykaning, Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker, now Madeline Island in Lake Superior. We meet her grandmother, Nokomis, her mother and father, her beautiful, sweet tempered older sister, Angeline, her two brothers, and Old Tallow, a tall, powerful and slightly mysterious woman.
In the early summer, the family rebuilds the birchbark house, their home for the warm months. Nearby Omakayas gathers berries, scrapes moose hides, watches her baby brother Neewo and tends the family’s corn plants. During the summer she encounters a family of bears who become important to her. She also gets very annoyed regularly with her irritating younger brother, Pinch. She saves a young crow who delights the whole family with his antics and by saying “Gaygo” (Stop that!) at just the right times.
Fall finds the family gathering rice, moving to the winter cabin, and for Omakayas, different experiences. Winter comes, bringing with it smallpox, hunger and tragedy to the family. They survive thanks to a deer that gives the gift of food and thanks to Pinch, who provides the gift of laughter.
The sweetness of the maple and the warmth of the spring wind and sun help Omakayas, but it is Old Tallow who completes the circle by telling Omakayas the story of her arrival on the island.
Despite a slow start “The Birchbark House” quickly becomes hard-to-put down. Omakayas is an intense, strong and likeable character with whom many children can identify. The details of Ojibwa life in the mid-nineteenth century and the warmth of a loving family will appeal to readers of all ages. Written from a Native American perspective, it is an excellent story about a girl growing up in a culture very different from today, but still comfortingly similar in many ways.
“The Birchbark House” is best suited for ages 9 to 12, and for reading aloud to younger children. I recommend it to adults who have enjoyed the author’s other works and to elementary school teachers as well. It features a good map and a glossary and pronunciation guide to Ojibwa terms used in the text.
Ms. Kaye can be reached at (860) 396-6861 or gkaye@mptn.org.
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