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Birchbark House
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From: Dean Schneider <schneiderd>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 08:39:21 -0500
Eliza's comments and her thoughts on the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves and our students are excellent. I have not read the Birchbark House with anyone younger than I am (so, I only know the book works with really old people!).
I found the novel to be quite philosophical, handling loss, death, and acceptance with a delicate touch and letting laughter balance grief, just as spring and rebirth follow loss.
I love the lines on p.238: "This was the first day of the journey on which she would find out the truth of her future, who she was....The birds, the whole earth, the expectant woods seemed to wait for her to understand something. She didn't know what. It didn't matter. Drowsily, she whistled along with the tiny sparrows." This is pretty deep when you think about it. It places meaning as not something external, out there to be found, but more as something within us, part of our life, our story, our personal journey. And we lucky readers get to watch Omakayas as she continues her journey.
The book is so nicely made, too, and the illustrations by the author seem perfect for the text.
Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205 schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Tue 05 Oct 1999 08:39:21 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 08:39:21 -0500
Eliza's comments and her thoughts on the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves and our students are excellent. I have not read the Birchbark House with anyone younger than I am (so, I only know the book works with really old people!).
I found the novel to be quite philosophical, handling loss, death, and acceptance with a delicate touch and letting laughter balance grief, just as spring and rebirth follow loss.
I love the lines on p.238: "This was the first day of the journey on which she would find out the truth of her future, who she was....The birds, the whole earth, the expectant woods seemed to wait for her to understand something. She didn't know what. It didn't matter. Drowsily, she whistled along with the tiny sparrows." This is pretty deep when you think about it. It places meaning as not something external, out there to be found, but more as something within us, part of our life, our story, our personal journey. And we lucky readers get to watch Omakayas as she continues her journey.
The book is so nicely made, too, and the illustrations by the author seem perfect for the text.
Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205 schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Tue 05 Oct 1999 08:39:21 AM CDT
