The Birchbark House (MP3 CD)
$29.95
Email or call for price
Email or call for price
Staff Reviews
Omakayas lives on Madeline Island off the northern shore of Lake Superior. Erdrich details through seven year old Omakayas (little frog) the daily rituals and routines that define the seasons: sugaring, hunting and curing hides, gathering rice and settling in the snug cabin for the wintertime. Taking place during the westward expansion in the mid 1800s as Omakayas' people are being pushed away from their homes by the "chimookoman", white settlers. There is also the heartbreak of smallpox and the secret that Omakayas learns about herself. This is the first book in the Birchbark series
— lynnDescription
Omakayas and her family live on the land her people call the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. Although the "chimookoman," white people, encroach more and more on their land, life continues much as it always has: every summer they build a new birchbark house; every fall they go to ricing camp to harvest and feast; they move to the cedar log house before the first snows arrive; and they celebrate the end of the long, cold winters at maple-sugaring camp. In between, Omakayas fights with her annoying little brother, Pinch; plays with the adorable baby, Neewo; and tries to be grown-up like her big sister, Angeline. But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge on winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever--but that will eventually lead Omakayas to discover her calling.