Book Review: CHICKADEE by Louise Erdrich

Bibliography

Erdrich, Louise. CHICKADEE. New York: Harper, 2012. ISBN: 0060577902.

Plot Summary

Chickadee and Makoons, eight-year-old twin brothers, have never been apart until Chickadee is kidnapped in the middle of the night and taken far from his family. Traveling from the North Woods of Minnesota to the Great Plains, Chickadee’s family searches for him, while Chickadee fights to be reunited with his Ojibwe tribe. Like the changes in the land from forest to plains, Chickadee meets many people and has many new experiences along his journey back to his family. 

Some experiences are unpleasant or a culture shock, like acting as servant to his kidnappers or being helped by a dour Mother Anthony and sweet Sister Seraphica. Other experiences were enjoyable and enlightening like riding in the oxcart train with his Uncle Quill, meeting the Metis, or seeing the big houses of St. Paul. While Chickadee is gone, Makoons falls ill and their mother and father, Omayakas and Animikiins, are desperate to find one son and heal the other. When Chickadee is finally reunited with his family in the Great Plains, he brings a healing song to Makoons that he learned from his guardian and namesake, the chickadee.

Critical Analysis

CHICKADEE is the fourth book in The Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich. The story follows an extended family from the Ojibwe tribe in 1866. The setting of time and place are important to the story and highlights the cultural differences between the Ojibwe characters and the white settlers. The rich descriptions of the woods of Minnesota and then the Great Plains and the customs and traditions of the Ojibwe (and a little about the Metis) give authenticity to the story.

CHICKADEE gives readers some key messages that are both historical and relevant to present times. The book is enthralling and the characters are funny and endearing. Readers are drawn in by the author’s charming writing style and the unpretentious portrait Erdrich paints of the lifestyle and customs of the Ojibwe people. The pencil drawings sprinkled throughout the book fascinate the reader, despite their simplistic nature.

At the end of the book, an Author’s Note discusses the Ojibwe language and there is a glossary and useful pronunciation guide for the Ojibwe terms used in CHICKADEE. Though this is the fourth book in a series, readers can follow the story easily without needing to read the first three books, though they will probably want to read all three if they haven’t just to learn more about the characters and the Ojibwe.

Review Excerpt(s)

Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

From School Library Journal

“Readers will be more than happy to welcome little Chickadee into their hearts.” Lisa Crandall

From Booklist

“In the fourth book in Erdrich’s award-winning Birchbark House series, the focus moves to a new generation. As always, the focus is on the way-of-life details as much as the adventure. Most affecting are the descriptions of Makoons’ loneliness without his brother.”

Book Connections

Read other books in the Birchbark House Series by Louise Erdrich:

THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE, ISBN 0786814543.

THE GAME OF SILENCE, ISBN 0064410293.

THE PORCUPINE YEAR, ISBN 0064410307.

Read other books by Louise Erdrich:

THE RANGE ETERNAL, ISBN 0786802200.

GRANDMOTHER’S PIGEON, ISBN 0786801654.

BOOKS AND ISLANDS IN OJIBWE COUNTRY: TRAVELING THROUGH THE LAND OF MY ANCESTORS, ISBN 006230996X.

Activities for CHICKADEE:

• Conduct a study of the author, reading biographies and listening to interviews. Learn why the author wrote CHICKADEE and her experience as a Native American.
•  Read the other books in the Birchbark House Series, then have students conduct research on the Ojibwe people. Students can create projects on how the Ojibwe people lived, their food, their traditions and customs, and religions. Have students present their findings to the group and display their projects in the library or classroom.
•   Help students become pen pals or have Skype sessions with students at a Native American school to learn about each other’s customs and traditions.