A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

A Boy and a Jaguar

by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz

Image Credit: A Boy and a Jaguar at stutteringhelp.org

1. Bibliography

Rabinowitz, Alan. Illustrated by Catia Chien. A Boy and a Jaguar. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. ISBN 9781442474659

2. Plot Summary

In his first book for children, conservationist and adult author Rabinowitz frames his lifelong struggle with stuttering against his equally long-held love of animals, which led to a career spent studying and advocating for them. “I am a stutterer,” he explains. “If I try to push words out, my head and body shake uncontrollably.” With animals, however, his words flow easily, and a young Alan promises a lonely jaguar at the Bronx Zoo: “If I can ever find my voice, I will be their voice and keep them from harm.” (Summary Credit: A Boy and a Jaguar at publishersweekly.com)

3. Critical Analysis

The main character is a young Alan Rabinowitz, only referred to in the story in the first person (I, me, and mine). It is a story of him overcoming a severe stutter, he had all through his young life. The only time his stutter is not an issue is when he is singing or talking to animals. Rabinowitz manages his disability by not talking.  His parents try many solutions (special classes, doctors and hypnosis).  A specialist in college finds a way for Rabinowitz to cope (but never overcome) but Rabinowitz still feels broken.  The settings are many locations throughout Rabinowitz’s life (home, school, the zoo, and the jungle).

At no time is Rabinowitz’s stuttering elucidated. Rabinowitz’s describes what it feels like to stutter (“mouth freezes”, “avoid situations” and “broken).  The acrylic illustrations are indistinct enough that you can’t read an expression on the characters face, however, the color palette chosen gives a sense of the emotion behind the words. The story does a good job of being accurate to the disability described.  Even though the stuttering is ever expounded, this feels true to the fact that Rabinowitz’s avoided talking, therefore, you would not have heard him speak.  It also avoids stereotype by not making the stutter the focus of the story and spotlighting more how the stutter makes the main character feel.  Also, the story does not dwell on the disability, it rather talks briefly about how the character overcame and further how and why Rabinowitz finds his voice.

4. Review Experts

~ 2015 Schneider Family Book Award Winner

~Kirkus Reviews: “A simple memoir recounts a lifelong bond between a child who felt “broken” and the animals, especially jaguars that have informed his life’s work. The narrator explains his teachers must think he is “broken” when he is switched from his regular class due to his severe stuttering. But he can talk with his own small menagerie at home—in fact, he says, he can only speak fluently when he is singing or when he talks to animals. He promises the sad, caged jaguar at the Bronx Zoo that one day he will be a voice for the animals. In college, he finds ways to manage his stuttering; as an adult, he studies black bears and, later, jaguars. In a triumphant moment, he helps persuade Belize to set aside land as a jaguar preserve. Chien’s acrylic-and–charcoal-pencil art is filled with light and warm, rich colors, her edge-to-edge illustrations inviting, emotional and engaging. The forests of Belize are seen as deeply gray-green, a few animals faces peeking from the thick growth of vegetation. A note about Rabinowitz along with a brief Q-and-A pitched to young understanding confirm the promise kept: The author continues to use his voice to advocate for big cats throughout the world, as well as for stutterers. Moving and sweetly resonant.”

~Publishers Weekly: “The first-person present-tense narration creates an intimate connection to the author’s pain as he is placed “in a class for disturbed children,” subjected to unsuccessful treatments, and considered “broken” and disruptive by teachers. Shadowy charcoal lines and the often muted colors of Chien’s paintings amplify Alan’s solitude, but also reflect the profound joy, wonder, and healing he discovers studying animals in the wild. It’s a candid and deeply resonant account of a hard-fought battle against societal stigma, and an embrace of one’s true talent and calling.”

5. Connections

~Gather and read other books by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz about Giant Cat conservation including:

            An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar.  ISBN 1597269964

            Cougar: Ecology & Conservation. ISBN 0226353443

            The Complete Tiger Man Diaries. ASIN B000FIHM8K

            Beyond the Last Village: A Journey of Discovery in Asia’s Forbidden Wilderness. ISBN 1559637994

            Chasing the Dragon’s Tail: The Struggle to Save Thailand’s Wild Cats. ISBN 9781559639804

~Use with other Schneider Family Book Award-winning picture books:

            Say, Allen. Silent Days, Silent Dreams. ISBN 9780545927611

            Bryant, Jen and Boris Kulikov. Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille. ISBN 0449813371

            Thompson, Laurie Ann.  Illustrated by Sean Qualls. Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. ISBN 044981744X

~Science: Use in a segment about the big cats.

The Thing about Luck by Cynthia Kadohata

The Thing about Luck

by Cynthia Kadohata

Image Credit: The Thing about Luck at simonandschuster.com

1. Bibliography

Kadohata, Cynthia.  The Thing about Luck. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. ISBN 9781442474659

2. Plot Summary

There is bad luck, good luck, and making your own luck—which is exactly what Summer must do to save her family in this winner of the National Book Award by Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata. Summer knows that kouun means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills. The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are old-fashioned and demanding, and between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens and worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attention of their boss’s cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard work soon turns into a mess of its own. Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer figures the bad luck must be finished—but then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it might be the only way to save her family. Cynthia Kadohata’s ode to the breadbasket of America has received six starred reviews and won the National Book Award.  (Summary Credit: The Thing about Luck at simonandschuster.com)

3. Critical Analysis

Twelve-year-old Summer is the book’s main character, its hero and storyteller. She is of Japanese ancestry, curious about certain aspects of her heritage and identity and somewhat derisive of others. As the story evolves, however, it becomes clear that she is actively and honestly in search for the balance between being who she is as an individual and who she is in relation to her heritage. The former component seems to be more important to her, in that several of the narrative’s key situations (overcoming fear, a first infatuation, a bothersome little brother) seem to be problems that just about every young individual faces in one form or another, or at one time or another. Nevertheless, Summer’s ancestry is always present. The use of tender, character-driven examination of family ties, helps give this story characters filled with gentle power. The reader can identify with Summers struggles with her brother, her Japanese-American grandparents, her fear of getting bit by a mosquito and again getting malaria, and most of all, grappling with her growing consciousness of who she is and where she fits in her family. The setting is Middle America during the threshing season.  The family travels from Kansas to Texas to Oklahoma. Kansas is the state where Summer and her family make their home and where it is decided that Summer will work with her brother and Grandparents over the harvest. Texas is the second of the novel’s settings and is the location where most of the action takes place. It is the state in which Summer and her family take the first of the two “custom harvesting” jobs that they take on over the course of the narrative. Oklahoma is the third of the novel’s three settings. It is the place where the novel’s climactic action (i.e. Summer’s ultimate confrontation with her fears) takes place.

The story could be about just about any 12-year-old forced to grow up fast to help the family through a rough time. However, some cultural references are made that make you aware that Summer has some differences in her life with which she has she has to deal. Most of the cultural references revolve around her grandparents who immigrated to American after Summer was born in an American hospital while they were on vacation. The only physical reference is to Grandmother’s jet black hair (now dyed). But, many specific references are made to identify cultural aspects within the family. Summer mentions that the family is cursed and jinxed. Summer’s grandparents were the result of an arranged marriage and her grandmother goes to an acupuncturist. The family are custom harvesters which are made up of many minorities and immigrants. Her grandmother teaches her manners such as ‘never go inside if nobody let you in’, take off shoes before entering, important to be punctual, and Summer said she “felt like I had to use my best manners with people who didn’t deal with Asians. I felt like I represented the whole Asian race.” Grandfather tells tales; “tonight I tell you the story of a weed” and, “I tell you a story about life”. Summer said she was once told that you could tell your fortune by looking at the way the wind blew the wheat around you. Summer is reading A Separate Piece for her summer reading as say that it is about “two Caucasian guys who went to a boarding school during WWII. In other words, it was about a world completely alien to mine.” When kidding one of the harvester children she says ‘we put soap and water in the bathtub, and I stomp on our laundry.’ Her brother is doing his family ancestry and claims to have several samurais in his family tree.

Grandmother’s language patterns are those of someone who uses English as a second language.  She says things like ‘we having meeting-party. we invite boys we will consider for friendship with Jaz. I no interfere.’, ‘rah-rah land’, ‘Summer make’, No can be different by doing same thing as everyone else’, ‘Summer, you make one more trouble, my head explode and you guilty of murder’, Miss talk so good’ (grandmother calls Summer’s speech American English), “doctor give you pill and make you drug addict”.  And, many Japanese words are used some translated and other not.  Words used include: kouun (luck), unmei (destiny), umeboshi (soar plum good for healing power), oyasumi, oyasuminasai, saru (monkey), hai, kita makura (Japanese superstition that sleeping with your head to the north was bad luck), hara (stomach or gut), jan ken pon (rock paper scissors), tsukanoma, wabi-sabi.  Also, one of the Irish workers used the term gobshites (gullible people). Some of the names of character have Japanese names like Obaachan and Jiichan (grandmother and grandfather or Toshiro (Toshi) and Yukiko), Shika (previous dog), and Akiko (grandfather’s first love). The foods that family eats when in private are mentioned and include green tea, shabu-shabu (thick noodles with thinly sliced beef and vegetables), sashimi, and oxtail soup. Summer meditates by pressing a lucky amber against her forehead for luck, using alternating-nostril deep breathing, laying down on her back and spread out her limbs, picking a person to whom to open her heart, and saying “I accept you for who you are”.  And, the family prays in front of several sprigs of silk cherry blossoms.

4. Review Experts

~National Book Award Winner

~APALA Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature

~Six Starred Reviews

~Kirkus Reviews: “Twelve-year-old Summer and her Japanese-American family work every harvest season to earn money to pay their mortgage. But this year, they face unprecedented physical and emotional challenges. It has been a particularly hard-luck year. Among other strange occurrences, Summer was bitten by a stray, diseased mosquito and nearly died of malaria, and her grandmother suffers from sudden intense spinal pain. Now her parents must go to Japan to care for elderly relatives. So Summer, her brother and their grandparents must take on the whole burden of working the harvest and coping with one emergency after another. She writes a journal chronicling the frightening and overwhelming events, including endless facts about the mosquitoes she fears, the harvest process and the farm machinery that must be conquered. As the season progresses, her relationships with her grandparents and her brother change and deepen, reflecting her growing maturity. Her grandparents’ Japanese culture and perspective are treated lovingly and with gentle humor, as are her brother’s eccentricities. Kadohata makes all the right choices in structure and narrative. Summer’s voyage of self-discovery engages readers via her narration, her journal entries and diagrams, and even through her assigned book report of A Separate Peace. Readers who peel back the layers of obsessions and fears will find a character who is determined, compassionate and altogether delightful.”

5. Connections

~Gather and read other books by Cynthia Kadohata including:

            Kira-Kira. ISBN 0689856407

            Outside Beauty. ISBN 1416998187

~Use with other APALA Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature winners or honorees:

            Krishnaswami, Uma. Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh. ISBN 1600602614

            Tan, Susan. Illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte. Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire. ISBN 1250144000

            Kelly, Erin Entrada. The Land of Forgotten Girls. ISBN 0062238655

            Dilloway, Margaret. Illustrated by Choong Yoon. Momotaro Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters. ISBN 1484746813

            Milton, Marilyn. Full Cicada Moon. ISBN 0147516013

            Kelly, Erin Entrada. Blackbird Fly. ISBN 0062238620

~Science: Use in a segment about agriculture.

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Starry River of the Sky

by Grace Lin

Image Credit: Starry River of the Sky at gracelin.com

1. Bibliography

Lin, Grace.  Starry River of the Sky. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. ISBN 0316125954

2. Plot Summary

This mesmerizing companion to the Newbery Honor Book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009) does not disappoint. Rendi has run away from home, stowed in the back of a merchant’s cart until he is discovered and left stranded in the scarcely populated Village of Clear Sky. There he becomes the innkeeper’s chore boy and is introduced to a cast of characters, including Mr. Shan, a wise older man; Madame Chang, a mysterious out-of-town guest with a gift for storytelling; and a toad whom Mr. Shan calls Rabbit. All the while, the moon is missing, and it seems only Rendi is tormented by the sky’s sad wailing noises at night. Madame Chang insists that for each story she tells—including one about ruler Wang Yi’s wife, who transformed into a toad and lived out the rest of her days on the moon—Rendi must tell one of his own.  (Summary Credit: Starry River of the Sky at booklist.com)

3. Critical Analysis

The main character, Rendi, was easy to relate to and although he had a tough time learning about himself and others, the reader is really given the chance to see him grow and learn to value those around him. He is only contented with his life, and those people in his life, when he learns the importance of forgiveness. The stories the characters tell reveal pieces of the larger, centuries-long tale, but it's also how we learn about the main characters themselves.  There is rich character development and all the characters names have meanings in the Chinese language. The story is primarily about Rendi however, each character and story told within was just as unique and riveting. The book is set in the same story world as Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; old, fantastical China. The story takes place in the Village of Clear Sky which used to be Village of Endless Mountain.  Other locations mentioned throughout the story have cultural references including the title location (Starry River of the Sky), Stone Pancake, Long River, Heavenly Palace, Liu, Fang, Palace of the Sun, Palace of the Moon, City of Far Remote, and Inn of Never-Ending Mountain.

Cultural markers abound but are incorporated into the story so you feel that you are in an ancient fantasy version of China. References to other characters and locations (proper named) are mentioned the Noxious Animals, Celestial Rooster, Half-Moon Well, Nan Ling water, and Spirit of the Mountain. And, non-proper named locations such as a palace of water jade and pearl. Locations are described as having a couch bed carved with ribbon-tailed birds and plum blossoms, silk scrolls hung on the wall, delicate paper cutting decorations, incense, stone tablets carved with names of dead ancestors, a jade vase, a lantern that must be lit, and a box made from a golden peach pit.  Characters are clothed in various outfits that depict their social and economic status including cotton robes of a commoner, crimson silk robes, goldfish slippers, gilded metal comb, an embroidered silk purse, jade bracelet, and a belt decoration with red cinnabar beads. There are Chinese folktales embedded within the story that tell tales about five poisonous animals (snake, scorpion, centipede, spider, and toad), six suns in the sky, flooding water serpent, a man transformed into a toad, a noxious toad (that haunts the inn, has blood eyes and breathes poison vapor), dust as thick as breath of an earth dragon, and a dragon’s pearl.  The characters own items such as two copper coins tied together with a red string, an abacus, a hollow gourd to draw up the water, chopsticks, a carriage, a string of gold and a blue, white and gold rice bowl with an ancient rabbit motif.

Other cultural references include: Rendi, while hiding in the cart, felt like he was ‘compressed like meat in a dumpling’; it was ‘unheard of for a woman to be staying alone at an inn’; ‘the sky, earth, and seas echoed with his (the hero) praises’; there are references to balance and harmony and use of a matchmaker.  Animals used throughout the story reflect those of the Chinese zodiac and folktales (cricket, tiger, cow, rooster, and toad).  Chinese words are used but explained contextually (gang, wang, qin).  The characters names all have meaning in Chinese and include Rendi, Master Chao, Peiyi, Jiming, Mr. Shan, Madame Chang, WangYi, Widow Yan, MeiLan, Tiwu, Magistrate Tiger, Duke Zhe, Queen Mother of the Heavens, and the Moon Lady.  There is an emperor in addition to a king.  And, individuals show affection by touching foreheads.  Food mentioned in the story include pork dumpling, rice wine, tofu, lychees, ice plum juice, dough deep frying in oil, rice, fried taro cakes, sesame balls, plums, ginger soup, rice balls, and a butchered pig.  Celebrations include Day of Five Poisons, a wedding with a sedan chair, wedding procession, firecrackers, red embroidered silk canopy, and costumed carriers, and coloring red eggs for festivities.  Religious practices include: rain ceremonies (makes them laugh so hard that they cry and then rain will fall, burning smoke in front of statues hoping their eyes will water, or throwing dirt on dragon figures), wine to protect the characters from the Noxious Animals, a wang symbol (symbol of power) on the daughters forehead, a shrine room, and the mention that the couple should not get married yet because ‘we don’t know if this is an auspicious day.

4. Review Experts

~School Library Journal: “The moon is missing from the sky, and its absence causes unrelenting heat and drought. At night, Rendi can hear the sky moan and whimper for the missing moon, a sound that has plagued him since running away from home and ending up as a chore boy at an isolated inn. When a mysterious and glamorous guest arrives, she brings stories and asks Rendi to tell her tales in return. These stories weave the characters and plotlines together while revealing the backstory of Rendi's flight from home, the village's geography, and the missing moon, and how they tie together. This follow-up to Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, 2009), takes place centuries earlier when Magistrate Tiger's son was still young and missing. The stories the characters tell are based on traditional Chinese folktales, but Lin adds her own elements and layers and mixes them with original tales to form a larger narrative that provides the background and the answers for the frame story. This tight and cyclical plotting, combined with Lin's vibrant, full-color paintings and chapter decorations, creates a work that is nothing short of enchanting. Like the restored moon, Starry River outshines the previous work.”

~Publishers Weekly: “Lin’s signature device of interspersing the plot with stories told by various characters enriches this story on many levels, especially when Rendi, pressured by Madame Chang, begins to tell his own revealing stories. Neither sequel nor prequel, this fantasy is linked to Lin’s Newbery Honor book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2009), through numerous elements, including lush imagery, glorious full-color artwork, food similes (“Rendi’s muscles were as soft as uncooked tofu”), and the cruel and hot-tempered Magistrate Tiger. The lively mix of adventure, mystery, and fantasy, supported by compelling character development and spellbinding language, will captivate a wide swath of readers.”

5. Connections

~Gather and read other books by Grace Lin including:

            Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. ISBN 0316038636

            Year of the Dog. ISBN 9780316060028

When the Sea Turned to Silver. ISBN 9780316125949

~Use in a social studies segment about Chines Festival like the Dragon Boat Festival or Lantern Festival

~Use in a social studies unit about Rain Dances and Celebrations in different cultures

~Use in a science class about Fireflies or Goldfish

~Use in a science class about the Moon

Tea with Milk by Allen Say

Tea with Milk

by Allen Say

Image Credit: Tea with Milk at kirkusreviews.com

1. Bibliography

Say, Allen.  Tea with Milk. New York: Walter Lorraine Books, 1999. ISBN 0395904951

2. Plot Summary

Raised near San Francisco, Masako (her American friends called her May) is uprooted after high school when her parents return to their Japanese homeland. In addition to repeating high school to learn Japanese, she must learn the arts of a ""proper Japanese lady""--flower arranging, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony--and is expected to marry well. Declaring ""I'd rather have a turtle than a husband,"" the independent-minded Masako heads for the city of Osaka and gets a job in a department store. Later, when she meets a young Japanese businessman who also prefers tea with milk and sugar to green tea, readers will know that she's met her match.  (Summary Credit: Tea with Milk at publishersweekly.com)

3. Critical Analysis

Tea with Milk is a story about accepting one’s own uniqueness. The story has one main character, Mashako (May to her American friends), who struggles with her American identity in her parents’ homeland of Japan. Unlike many identity picture books, the main character is not struggling to fit into American society, but fighting to find her American sense of self in the country of her parents. With no desire to conform to Japanese culture (where she is not received), Masako chooses to claim her individuality by finding a job. However, she is met with an equally trying and belittling position as an elevator girl. When the chance arrives and she is promoted to the store’s guide for foreign businessmen, she is required to wear a kimono for the job. Masako realizes that kimono did not seem so unpleasant now. Her ultimate comfort with the kimono shows that she was not protesting against the cultural symbols of Japan, but the way in which she was forced to accept them.

The setting of most of the story is Japan and you mostly get a sense of the setting through the illustrations. Masako wishes to one day return to America where she wouldn’t have to be such a proper lady and she could get a job or drive a car and nobody would think anything of it, in the end, Masako remains in Japan with her new husband, Joseph. Joseph, who went to an English school, teaches Masako that home isn’t a place or a building, in America or anywhere else, and the two of them accept Japan as their home together. The story shows that home truly is where the heart is and that a sense of home can be made and can’t be taken for granted.

This story has many cultural markers both English (pancakes and red dresses) and Japanese. The main character, Masako, plans to go to college, but her parents become homesick and move the family back to Pre-WWII Japan. She misses her friends and American food. Even though her parents raised her on rice and miso soup, she doesn’t like rice paper windows and sitting on the floor.  Masako is forced to retake high school in Japan so she will learn her own language, how to behave like a proper Japanese lady, write Japanese characters (calligraphy), perform a tea ceremony and arrange flowers. She doesn’t fit in and is ridiculed and called "gaijin" (foreigner). She is forced to wear kimonos and drink green tea straight, even though she prefers milk in her tea. Finally, when a matchmaker is hired to arrange a marriage for Masako, she becomes fed up and rebels against her undesired Japanese inculcation, putting on her flashiest American dress and heading for the city of Osaka to find a job. Because she is a woman, she works bowing and greeting customers, but is soon rewarded for her knowledge of English and promoted to a position of translating and helping foreign customers. There, Masako meets a man named Joseph from Shanghai, who was adopted by English parents - and whose identity is equally torn as hers - and they marry and have a child.

The illustrations of Tea with Milk are calmly bold. The drawing reflects the setting; wood sided house with an American flag in the US and rice paper windows with no furniture in Japan.  The people of Japan reflect the cultures homogeneousness, all with short black hair and almond-shaped eyes, without being stereotyped.  May wears English wear in the US and a kimono in Japan. Most of the time Masako is drawn entirely alone or noticeable uncomfortable with others. Only in the end when she meets her future husband is she drawn to not stand out, and blends in with the rest of the characters. The effect of the drawings makes clear Masako’s remoteness and aloneness.

4. Review Experts

~ALA Notable Children’s Book

~Kirkus Review: “In describing how his parents met, Say continues to explore the ways that differing cultures can harmonize; raised near San Francisco and known as May everywhere except at home, where she is Masako, the child who will grow up to be Say’s mother becomes a misfit when her family moves back to Japan. Rebelling against attempts to force her into the mold of a traditional Japanese woman, she leaves for Osaka, finds work as a department store translator, and meets Joseph, a Chinese businessman who not only speaks English, but prefers tea with milk and sugar, and persuades her that “home isn’t a place or a building that’s ready-made or waiting for you, in America or anywhere else.” Painted with characteristic control and restraint, Say’s illustrations, largely portraits, begin with a sepia view of a sullen child in a kimono, gradually take on distinct, subdued color, and end with a formal shot of the smiling young couple in Western dress. A stately cousin to Ina R. Friedman’s How My Parents Learned to Eat (1984), also illustrated by Say.”

~Publishers Weekly: “Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose. With his characteristic subtlety, Say sets off his cultural metaphor from the very start, contrasting the green tea Masako has for breakfast in her home, with the ""tea with milk and sugar"" she drinks at her friends' houses in America. Say reveals on the final page that the couple are his parents. Whether the subject is food (""no more pancakes or omelets, fried chicken or spaghetti"" in Japan) or the deeper issues of ostracism (her fellow students call Masako ""gaijin""--foreigner) and gender expectations, Say provides gentle insights into human nature as well as East-West cultural differences. His exquisite, spare portraits convey emotions that lie close to the surface and flow easily from page to reader: with views of Masako's slumping posture and mask-like face as she dons her first kimono, or alone in the schoolyard, it's easy to sense her dejection. Through choice words and scrupulously choreographed paintings, Say's story communicates both the heart's yearning for individuality and freedom and how love and friendship can bridge cultural chasms.”

5. Connections

~Gather and read Asian/Pacific American Awards Literature Award (APALA) winning picture books like:

            Phi, Bao. Illustrated by Thi Bui. A Different Pond. ISBN

            Yum, Hyewon. Puddle. ISBN

            Bahk, Jane. Juna’s Jar. ISBN

            Uegaki, Chieri and Qin Leg. Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin. ISBN

            Jiang, Ji-li. Red Kite, Blue Kite. ISBN

~Gather and read other picture books by Allen Say including:

            Grandfather’s Journey. ISBN     9780547076805

            And Dianne Snyder. The Boy of the Three-Year Nap. ISBN 039566957X

Kamishibai Man. ISBN 9780618479542

            Silent Days, Silent Dreams. ISBN 9780545927611

            Tree of Cranes. ISBN 9780545927611

Use with a discussion about immigration

Use with a geography lesson about Japan

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

The Birchbark House

by Louise Erdrich

 Image Credit: The Birchbark House at https://www.publishersweekly.com

1. Bibliography

Erdrich, Louise.  The Birchbark House. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1999. ISBN 9780786814541

2. Plot Summary

This young adult novel is the story of a year in the life of a young Ojibwa girl who, over the cycle of four full seasons, comes to a deeper understanding of life, herself, and the relationship between the two. As it chronicles the year's events, the narrative thematically explores the connection between human beings and nature, the effect of whites on the indigenous culture, and the necessity of confronting fear.  (Summary Credit: The Birchbark House at bookrags.com)

3. Critical Analysis

Omakayas (or Little Frog in English) is the book’s principal character. The book's storyline follows her experiences, observations, and understanding, as she changes from an innocent, playful eight-year-old into a young woman. In many ways, she is a normal child - playful, occasionally uncooperative about household chores and tasks, admires her parents, annoyed by her siblings, and very emotionally involved with her grandmother. At the same time, she has clear unique abilities, especially her connection to nature. These two sides to her character are what make her an especially attractive, not to mention pertinent, character when it comes to the book’s target audience of young women.  Other characters important to Omakayas and her experiences are: her adored Grandmother Nokomis, her admired parents Deydey and Yellow Kettle, her “perfect” older sister Angeline, her irritating brother Little Pince and her much loved baby brother Neewo.  The story is set on an island (Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker) in Lake Superior (Moningwanaykaning) and follows characters from an Ojibwa tribe in 1847.

            Since this story takes place in 1847, it is very important for the story to show the Ojibwa culture in the correct time period.  The author does an excellent job of doing this by describing many aspects of the daily lives of the Ojibwa tribe.  She describes the characters clothing.  Different characters are described wearing a dress embroidered with white beads, makazins (moccasins), a turban, beaded velvet vest, calico shirt, fine red cloth, a bandolier bag, earrings, necklace of bear claws, partridge-tail fan, bracelets, armbands, ribbons, shawl, and Old Tallow’s coat (new furs of lynx, beaver, deer hide, dog hide, patched with discarded bright calico, even black-beaded velvets).  Many chores, and tools needed to do those chores, are described including tanning the moose hide with the brains of the moose, making the hide soft enough for makazins, scraping with the sharpened deer shoulder bone, moose antler hoe, hoe from crooked tree branch, knocking the rice grains off into the bottom of the boat, picking reeds to make mats, smoking the rice, treading rice to crush the tough hulls, caulking canoes, fishing nets, fishing spear, rabbit snares, ice fishing and paddling to the rice camp.

            Many objects from their surroundings are mentioned and described like their summer cabin of sweet-scented cedar, tobacco pouch, treasure wrapped in a leaf, beaded velvet wrapping, pipe made out of sumac wood with bands beaded in black and yellow and bowl in the shape of an otters head, medicine man, intestine of moose to store meat, bundles of roots, bag of berries and dried crumbled leaves, long curls of inner bark, rabbit skin blankets, toboggans of stretched furs, dance lodge, lean-to storage, moose hide, beaver furs, sleeping mats (woven reed mats placed over tufts of moss), and their winter birchbark house (lined with lush furs, sleeping robes, red-and-white-point blankets).

Certain descriptions of things and events help to identify the Native American culture and the Ojibwa tribe culture, more specifically.  Deydey is described as having “half-white blood”. The different seasons are Neebin, Dagwagin, Biboon, Zeegwun and the different Ojibwa clans are Anishinabe (wolf clan), Anishinabeg, Adisokaan, and the Awausesee (catfish clan).  Omakayas is described as being eight winters old, the island is described as the drum of the thunder-being, characters “starve for a vision” or going to the sweat-baths, Grandfather Owl and Mukwah the bear are characters in their stories, when Deydey gets smallpox the family is worried he will “run to the land of the spirits”, the wind is the windigo spirit or the Hungry One, one time of year is described as Crust on the Snow Moon, boy hunt and girls do “things girls normally do” and white people (Chimookoman) “cheat us with treaties.

            Other characters in the story have names like Old Tallow, Ten Snow, Day Thunder, Swan, Auntie Muskrat, Old Man Migwans, Waubanikway, Mikwam (Ice), Andeg (crow), Fishtail, Little Bee, Twilight, Akewaynzee, Two Strike Girl, and Wishkob. Ojibwa words are used; some are repeated in English and the rest you get the meaning from context.  Words and expressions used include booni, geget, pakuks, windigos, kinnikinnick, ahneen, mino aya sana, hiyn, gaween onjidah, ashaageshinh, tikinagun, N’dai, makuk, place called Where the Sisters Eat, bekayaan, wakaigun, neshkey, ombay, saaa, ahneen, neshemay, gaygo, minopogwud, neshkey, and pikwayzhigun.  The characters animals and plants typical of the Lake Superior region in 1847.  Those items mentioned in the story include moose, maple sugar, berries, wild onion, wild rice, bear grease, chokecherries, parched corn, dried fish, smoked venison, beaver (amik), plums, corn soup, juniper berries, swamp tea, and rabbit.  And, a few celebrations and religious practices appear in the story including Grandmother giving her tobacco to the water and asking for a safe and smooth crossing, or blessing the cache of food.  The characters give offerings, the dead are buried in grave houses and ceremonies include drumming.  Overall, the story is an excellent, realistic representation of the life of one Ojibwa girl and her family in the Lake Superior region of 1847.

4. Review Experts

National Book Award Finalist

~Kirkus Review - " With this volume, Erdrich launches her cycle of novels about a 19th-century Ojibwa family, covering in vivid detail their everyday life as they move through the seasons of one year on an island on Lake Superior. A baby girl crawls among the bodies of her family, dead from smallpox. After that stinging beginning, an unexpectedly enjoyable story follows, replete with believable characterizations, humor, family love, and misadventures. Omakayas, now eight adores baby brother Neewo, detests rambunctious five-year-old brother Pinch, and worships her beautiful teenage sister, Angeline. Omakayas works and plays through the summer and fall, learning the ways of her people; she has a frightful adventure with bears and adopts a young raven as a pet. But in winter smallpox again affects her life: Neewo dies, and Angeline is scarred for life.  Omakayas cannot find her way back to happiness until an odd old woman tells her the truth of her past, in a novel that is by turns charming, suspenseful, and funny, and always bursting with life.”

~Publishers Weekly: “Erdrich's (Grandmother's Pigeon) debut novel for children is the first in a projected cycle of books centering on an Ojibwa family on an island in Lake Superior. Opening in the summer of 1847, the story follows the family, in a third-person narrative, through four seasons; it focuses on young Omakayas, who turns ""eight winters old"" during the course of the novel. In fascinating, nearly step-by-step details, the author describes how they build a summer home out of birch bark, gather with extended family to harvest rice in the autumn, treat an attack of smallpox during the winter and make maple syrup in the spring to stock their own larder and to sell to others. Against the backdrop of Ojibwa cultural traditions, Omakayas also conveys the universal experiences of childhood--a love of the outdoors, a reluctance to do chores, devotion to a pet--as well as her ability to cope with the seemingly unbearable losses of the winter. The author hints at Omakayas's unusual background and her calling as a healer, as well as the imminent dangers of the ""chimookoman"" or white people, setting the stage for future episodes. Into her lyrical narrative, Erdrich weaves numerous Ojibwa words, effectively placing them in context to convey their meanings. Readers will want to follow this family for many seasons to come.”

5. Connections

~Read books for middle schoolers that have received the American Indian Youth Literature Award or Honors:

            Starr, Arigon. Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers. ISBN 0990694755

            Nelson, Jonathan. The Wool of Jonesy. ISBN 9780990694748

            Marshall, Joseph III. In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. ISBN 141970785X

Charleyboy, Lisa and Mary Beth Leatherdale. Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. ISBN 1554516862

Offer books by other Native American authors such as Michael Dorris, Gayle Ross, Shonto Begay or Virginia Driving Hawk.

~Other possible Louise Erdrich books to read:

            The Round House. ISBN 0062065246

            The Plague of Doves. ISBN 9780060515126

            La Rose. ISBN 9780062277022