The Birchbark House

Louise Erdrich • Sensory Similes

The Arrow is the monthly digital product that features copywork and dictation passages from a specific read aloud novel (you purchase or obtain the novels yourself). It’s geared toward children ages 11-12 and is an indispensable tool for parents who want to teach language arts in a natural, literature-bathed context.

This guide contains the following features:

• 4 Passages (one per week) for copywork/dictation
• Notes about punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, and literary devices
• 3 Grammar or Punctuation Spotlights
• Cultural Context box
• Literary Device: Sensory similes
• Writing Activity: Create a portrait with similes
• 9 Discussion Questions
• Book Club Party Ideas
• 46 pages
• Original Publication Date: December 2016
• Updated: January 2022

How does the Arrow fit into the Brave Writer complete language arts program? Learn more on our Getting Started page.

About the book

This National Book Award finalist by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich is the first installment in an essential nine-book series chronicling 100 years in the life of one Ojibwe family, and includes beautiful interior black-and-white artwork done by the author.

She was named Omakayas, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop.

Omakayas and her family live on an island in Lake Superior. Though there are growing numbers of white people encroaching on their land, life continues much as it always has.

But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever—but that will eventually lead Omakayas to discover her calling.

By turns moving and humorous, this novel is a breathtaking tour de force by a gifted writer.-Amazon

Purchase the novel The Birchbark House here (Amazon affiliate link).

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