The Sign of the Beaver?? Other suggestions?

[tmstranger]

The Sign of the Beaver was on my "maybe we'll read this" list for this year.  I noticed that it has some bad reviews on Amazon that suggest it is racist and inaccurate. 

 

I do want to make sure we get a truthful depiction of the relationships between the Native Americans and the European settlers...even if it's a fictional tale. 

 

Any feedback about this book?  Or a good alternative? 

 

It would be a read aloud for 9 and 12yo boys. 

 

Thanks.

[Guest]

Well, my 02 cents is that there were nearly as many truthful relationships between settlers/Colonialists/Americans and Native Americans, as there were interactions. So there is no one "acceptable" type of story, for me personally.

 

But! I take your point and I once saw a great website run by Native Americans that explored the biases in books, and had a bunch of recommendations. It was bookmarked on a now-defunct computer and I can't find it through google now to save my life.

 

I feel like Farrar is the one that linked it years ago? Hmm. I'll PM her.

[kiana]

Not sure but here's one source -- https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/best-books.html

[Kathleen.]

I think boys might like this book. My 12yo had to read it last year and she didn't like it at all - I read it as well. My 12yo was tired of reading the same theme that seems to appear in a lot of historical chapter books with a boy as the main character - a young boy who would not be able to survive without help from another person in the story. It just seemed too politically correct only because every book my 12yo gets assigned has the exact same theme. I would prefer to see more diversity in these type of books and not repetition of how feeble minded young boys might be. This book itself is not so bad on the surface, but it's the underlying message that irkes me.

[Lori D.]

Just a quick aside: Sign of the Beaver is about a 4th grade reading level, so it could be a solo read for either or both.

 

Here is a review of Sign of the Beaver from the American Indians in Children's Literature website which points out aspects of white racism towards Native Americans. In that same website, here and here are two lists of 10 books (fiction and non-fiction) for Middle School ages that are recommended.

 

Other titles frequently recommended, although also could be readers rather than read-alouds:

- Naya Nuki: The Shoshone Girl Who Ran (gr. 4-7) (Thomasma)

- Om-Kas-Toe (gr. 4-7) (Thomasma)

- Children of the Longhouse (gr. 3-6) (Bruchac)

- Arrow Over the Door (gr. 4-7) (Bruchac)

- and others by Joseph Bruchac (a Native American author)

- Birchbark House series (gr. 4-7) (female protagonist) by Louise Erdrich

 

And while it is more a survival story, Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell) is a great read-aloud for these ages. It is based on the true story of Juana Maria, a Nicoleño Native American living alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island during the first half of the 19th century. The contact with white fur trappers/sailors only comes right at the end of the story.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Lori D.

[tmstranger]

Just a quick aside: Sign of the Beaver is about a 4th grade reading level, so it could be a solo read for either or both.

 

Here is a review of Sign of the Beaver from the American Indians in Children's Literature website which points out aspects of white racism towards Native Americans. In that same website, here and here are two lists of 10 books (fiction and non-fiction) for Middle School ages that are recommended.

 

Other titles frequently recommended, although also could be readers rather than read-alouds:

- Children of the Longhouse (gr. 3-6) (Bruchac)

- Arrow Over the Door (gr. 4-7) (Bruchac)

- and others by Joseph Bruchac (a Native American author)

- Birchbark House series (gr. 4-7) (female protagonist) by Louise Erdrich

 

And while it is more a survival story, Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell) is a great read-aloud for these ages. It is a fictionalized account of the true person, Juana Maria, a Nicoleno Native American who lived alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island (off the coast of southern California) during the 19th century.

 

It is based on the true story of Juana Maria, a Nicoleño Native American left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island during the 19th century. The contact with white fur trappers/sailors only comes right at the end of the story.

 

Thanks.  I know that Sign of the Beaver is ok for them to read on their own, but they already have books assigned, so this was on my list of books we'd try to get to as a family read aloud. 

 

My 12yo has already read Island of the Blue Dolphins and enjoyed it. 

 

Thank you for the links! I'll check out those lists.

 

[hollyhock]

The Cabin on Trouble Creek is very similar. It could be used as a substitute. Not sure what kinds of reviews it gets, but I don't recall anything racist in it.

[Nart]

I am almost done reading it aloud to my 7 and 9 year old boys (10 pages to go). They both really are enjoying it. The version that we have has a forward from a Native American who explains the issues he has with the book (use of word squaw, stereotypical broken English Indians use that doesn't improve) but explains the book can be useful to understand the time period, native culture, and to see that all humans deserve respect even if they are different from you. I think my kids learned the white settler boy wouldn't have survived without learning from the Native Americans and howNative Americans lost their communal hunting lands and were forced to move when the settlers came. It is a good read aloud. I appreciate the longer sentence structure and challenging vocabulary used in the book.

[tmstranger]

I am almost done reading it aloud to my 7 and 9 year old boys (10 pages to go). They both really are enjoying it. The version that we have has a forward from a Native American who explains the issues he has with the book (use of word squaw, stereotypical broken English Indians use that doesn't improve) but explains the book can be useful to understand the time period, native culture, and to see that all humans deserve respect even if they are different from you. I think my kids learned the white settler boy wouldn't have survived without learning from the Native Americans and howNative Americans lost their communal hunting lands and were forced to move when the settlers came. It is a good read aloud. I appreciate the longer sentence structure and challenging vocabulary used in the book.

 

Thank you!  This is exactly what I needed to know.  I'll check our library's copy to see if it has that same forward, but the issues you mention are the same ones mentioned in the amazon reviews.

 

I looked up some of the other books mentioned above and I really like those, too.  Luckily, my library has several of them, so I think I'll check some out and look them over. 

[Bluegoat]

I do have a bit of a problem with some critisisms of the book.  It's from a first-person perspective and the boy in the story tends to have a lot of the attitudes that one might expect from a person of his time and experience.  And he actually changes his views in response to his experineces, which wouldn't be possible if he didn't have anything to learn.

 

I think it's actually not a bad job at looking at the meeting of two cultures from the POV of one of the people involved.  Sometimes it seems like there is a tendency to want fictional accounts like this, when they are for kids, to promote our values by being anachronistic - I tend to think those are usually bad books, though.

 

If you are looking for a book that presents Native American stories from their own perspective, it won't work, but I don't think that is what the book looks to do.