The Birchbark House

The year in 1847, and this story is told from the perspective of seven year old Omakayas, an Ojibwe girl who was the only survivor of a small pox epidemic as a baby. She was rescued by a brave woman named Tallow, and welcomed into a family on Madeline Island in Lake Superior. In this story, we follow Omakayas and her family through a cycle of four seasons. Activities include tanning hides, picking berries, scaring crows from the cornfield, and fireside ghost stories. Written by Louise Erdrich, and set in the era of westward movement, this provides an alternative perspective to that of the popular 'Little House' books, and could be used as a social studies resource. It won the American Indian Youth Literature Award in 2006; was a Jane Addams Honor Book in 2000, and was nominated for the Maud Hart Lovelace award in 2004.