Louise Erdrich Books

After reading so many praises from young adult readers, I'd like to make a suggestion for adult readers of historical fiction. I read this book, not so that I could instill a love of reading for my children, but rather, for my own pleasure in reading young adult fiction. The books may not involve many subplots, intrigues, and thickly woven characterizations, but certain ones can immerse you into their world of historical make-believe and even lead you to tears. I for one cried when reading this book. The way Louise Erdrich handles the coping of virulent illness and death through the eyes of a child is incredible. Not only does she paint this glorious heroine from a late 1800s Ojibwa girl, but she makes me dwell on the delicate vitality of the human soul and the subtle interconnectedness of each other. Yes, this book describes accurately the lives of the Ojibwa people of that time, but more importantly, above the cultural/historical lesson, the most prominent lesson from Erdrich's storytelling is her unveiling of human transformation into maturity clothed in the culture of the Ojibwa girl, Omakayas. Her auspicious past, her gifts with animals, her perseverance in caring for her family during the smallpox epidemic, and her coping with her brother's death -- for readers to feel that the book has a slow start, Erdrich more than likely chose to portray Omakayas' life in that way because that was exactly the pace it was. Meaning to say, it's not always violence and passion every minute, every chapter. The life of Ojibwas had a steady rhythm that followed the course of nature and only when the white settlers introduced themselves did that rhythm falter. For people who'd like an exciting quick read having to do with Native American history, I can't think of any. But for people who want to see life through a young girl's eyes -- life that involved hard work, sacrifice, love, death and living with what nature has provided, then this book is an excellent choice. Otherwise, there are a lot of old western novels that involve Native Americans (inaccurately of course) that would provide more of a thrill ride, if thrills are what you seek.

I purchased this book for my daughter who is attending CSUN. It arrived in a week and was in good condition, just like the description said.
Very happy with this purchase and many others.

This sweet, tender, sometimes humorous book, chronicles a year in the life of Omakayas, a seven year old girl who lives with her tribe on an island near Lake Superior. The book is divided into four main sections, each relating to a season of the year, just as the Native America daily life is based. Through Omakayas, children learn as they read about how she helps build a birch bark house, how she does her chores, and many other important details of Native American life. This makes the book especially invaluable for the fifth grade Social Studies curriculum. Many Native American words are used throughout this book, but this is done in a manner which makes their meaning apparent. There is even a glossary for these words in the back of the book. Children will love this book as Omakayas makes friends with animals and deals with feelings about her family, loss, fear, happiness, and contentment, as well as other feelings familiar to the young reader.

Generations of American children have grown up reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm in one of those generations. These stories gave us a view into settlers moving into formerly Indian territories and the hardships of breaking new lands to the plow, fighting weather, droughts, floods, and illness. These stories are our stories of conquering the prairie West. But there's another story that needs to be told and this story is of the Indians we died of disease and starvation and were moved off the lands so that white settlers could build farms and towns.

Laura Ingalls Wilder told the only stories she could tell - one dimensional tales of white people in a white nation. Louise Erdrich tells the story she is equipped to tell - one of a rich group of people living together in the Northern prairie lands. In this story Omakayas is a young Ojibwe girl living with her family, but the characters aren't all Indian. There's Albert LaPautre, a Frenchman who bumbles through trades and wild visions. There's Omakayas' father who works to pay off his yearly debt to the trading post and knows how to play chess so well that he can sometimes win enough food to help his family through hard times. There's Old Tallow, a medicine woman with a pack of angry dogs who teaches kind lessons through harsh examples.

For Omakayas and her family life is both hard and wonderful. There's enough sadness in the book to make you cry and enough happiness to make a child play-act the parts. The one thing I love about native storytelling is the respect shown to animals and plants that are needed to survive. Ms. Erdrich tells of this relationship with the skill of a master storyteller.

This book is richer and more complete than Little House on the Prairie. It's a responsible book and deserves more accolades and a greater following than that earlier work. It's brilliant and sensitive and fun. Everyday life never made me feel so fully. Please let all children in your life read this beautiful book.

- CV Rick, May 2008

We had to read the Birchbark House for a 7th grade class assignment. I thought this book was kind of interesting, because it had some funny parts and some sad parts in the middle of the story. In the beginning it was really boring. Sometimes it's hard to understand because they used a lot of Indian words but they provide a glossary. I think thee book could use some more funny and violent parts to get people interested to read more. I gave this book 3 stars because it was an o.k. book. It was kind of boring in the beginning but it got a lot better. It needed more funny parts. It was a good book but not one I would have picked. I would recommend this book to high schoolers, but they have to have a little Indian in them to understand you must like: sad, boring, exciting, and funny to enjoy this book.

I have loved each if Louise Erdrich's books that I have read. Her warmth and heart come through perfectly in this journal of birth. She has been blessed by the same goddess who has nurtured every woman during her birthing times from time immemorial. Highly recommended to all women who love life. And all men who love them.

It seems that a week doesn't go by when I see a woman on the subway or in a coffee shop reading a book from the What to Expect When You're Expecting series. Those detailed tombs of writing seem to be sent to people planning or in the process of rearing children as if by storks. (I've even heard of some workplaces keeping the book What to Expect... in the human resources supply closet, to be given as a gift when a woman announces she's pregnant.) However, upon reading some chapters from those books and informal discussions with mothers, a theme that reoccurs is that some women will explicitly instruct others not to read those books. Why? Not because they don't contain a plethora of knowledge but precisely because they do. That is, these can wind up really scaring a parent-to-be because they contain all the zillions of possible physical and emotional things that can go wrong during pregnancy and the first years. I think everyone can agree that raising the anxiety level, especially of a woman during pregnancy, is quite a less than desirable outcome.

What if there was a book that spoke honestly about the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth and, more importantly, treated these experiences as natural events rather than listing all the possible things to be feared? Better yet, what if there was a book that did all those things and spoke of the spiritual aspects of pregnancy and children, in a gentle and non-denominational way? Well, a book with all those features and more is available in this book.

Erdrich is of Native American ancestry and a writer by profession. Her background is rich with symbolism and spiritualism and is wonderful at weaving her story into the passage of seasons. At times I felt I was really looking through her eyes in the room where she wrote, looking out at a large picture window in her remote rural home. She saw the lives of various wildlife, from all types of birds to deer to wild dogs, intertwine with the passage of time from the beginnings of her pregnancy through the first year of her daughter's life. This book seems to be very realistic primarily because it does not compartmentalize pregnancy or infancy; Erdrich does not shy away from concurrent events in her life including changes in relationship with her husband, observations of nature, memories from her own childhood and recipes she craves during pregnancy or for their nurturing powers.

In more popular baby manual-type books, the subjects of actual labor, sleep deprivation, nurturing "instincts," and patience are sometimes glossed-over or described in such a way to possibly make a parent feel guilty for not automatically possessing certain qualities. This is yet another way that Erdrich's book masterfully succeeds as she lovingly and with understanding tackles these and other important subjects. She describes with humor and passion of a "no-sleep week" by stating how she wanted to call 911 Emergency because her baby wouldn't sleep. She describes the situation: "It happens to be a long crying bout, nothing wrong physically, just growth, maybe teeth. Why knows? Sometimes babies just cry and cry... in my office, with her in the crib next to the desk, I break through a level of sleep-deprived frustration so intense I think I'll burst, into a dimension of surprising calm," (71).

Erdrich speaks of the "tender and grueling task of rearing a newborn," (6) with such a fullness and richness of spirit that I cannot help but be moved by her descriptions. I highly recommend this book not only to anyone personally considering parenting but also to educators and anyone interested in the mutual development of a parent and an infant. I think it could also serve as an excellent supplement for all students in any Infancy and Child Development course. The best summary for her book is by Erdrich herself. In the introduction she states: "These pages are a personal search and an extended wondering at life's complexity. This is a book of conflict, a book of babyhood, a book about luck, cats, a writing life, wild places in the world, and my husband's cooking. It is a book about he vitality between mothers and infants, that passionate bond into which we pour the direct expression of our being," (5).

Fine book, can be read again and again. Would be a great book to give an expecting mother or new mother.

A beauftifully written book about birth, motherhood, and nature. I read this book when I was 9 months pregnant, in preperation of my own upcomng birth year and I was not diasappointed. It is lyrical, profound, and prolific. You will especially enjoy this book if you are at all in awe of nature. The way she weaves it into the life cycle and observes and commments on the surroundings of her rural New Hampshire home painted a beautiful backdrop for her experiences of birthing and rearing an infant through the four seasons. I highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of family circumstances. It can be enjoyed by all as simply an incredibly well written, woman focused book.

I loved this book when I first read it before my daughter was born. Re-reading it now, as a new mother, I find it even more remarkable. Louise Erdrich has perfectly captured both the frustration and surpassing joy of life with a new baby. The book is also a beautiful nature narrative, with observations on the changing of the seasons interwoven with the story of a child's first year. Highly recommended!

The illustrations in this book are wonderful and are a perfect compliment to this strange,comforting story of a loving family and the legacy of their magical grandmother. There are some subtle nuances that parents will pick up if they pay attention. This is a tale about ecology and love for free and wild creatures, with a bit of shamanism thrown in for good measure. There is humour here and wisdom. I love this book for the satisfying feeling of gentle wonder that I feel as I turn the last page and close the book. I recommend it to all with childish hearts.

Louise Erdrich is the author of the award winning novels Love Medicine and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse , amongst others. She is an incredibly gifted novelist. Grandmother's Pigeon is her first book for children.

I haven't read a book written specifically for children in well over a decade (Harry Potter and The Narnia series would be more for young adults and are suitable for adults on different levels), but Grandmother's Pigeon is a true children's book. It is only about 30 pages, half of which are illustrations. Like any good children's book, this one is mixed with the simple and the fantastic (perhaps all the more understandable considering Erdrich's American Indian heritage). The story is simple, a grandmother goes away on a trip and bird eggs are discovered in her room. When the eggs hatch, the birds turn out to be Passenger Pigeons (a long extinct species), three males. There is some commotion about the pigeons and finally they are released into the wild by the family. The fantastic comes in from the very start when Grandmother announces she is going to travel to Greenland on the back of a turtle and it is hinted the a stuffed animal toy pigeon may have been the cause of the mysterious eggs. It is a very sweet, charming story and I would imagine any child would enjoy reading this book.

helps to show children that people in their family can be different, but you still love them.

Erdrich blends experiences from her three daughters about pregnancy and the first year to evoke the conflicting passions of motherhood. Writing in a small building accross the road from the New Hampshire farmhouse she shared with her husband, the writer Michael Dorris, and their 5 children, Erdrich skillfully sets the changes occurring in her body and her infant's against sharp observations about the natural world, domestic life and the changing seasons. Never maudlin or saccharine, this book is a treasure. Lovers of Erdrich's fiction and poetry will not be disappointed.

Beautifully written and wonderfully detailed, this book looks at literature by women who, in different ways, make "the West" their home. But Comer overturns defintions of the West as simply the old frontier and "the big sky." The West is black women in LA and Asian women in San Fransisco and Native Indian women writing about their modern lives. The book has very interesting interpretations of contempory women's literature, but the best part is the way it makes you re-think what you thought you knew about the "West." Put away your cowboy images, this book shows the West as a diverse region that has produced some of the best fiction writers in the nation.

Love Medicine was Louise Erdrich's debut novel and won a National Book Critics Circle Award when it was published in 1984. A short story cycle narrated by a variety of different characters, Love Medicine chronicles the intertwined histories of Chippewa and mixed-blood families in North Dakota spanning more than fifty years and laying bare the ordeals and joys of twentieth-century Native American life. Erdrich successfully and poignantly evoked the continued relevance of homeland, humor, and storytelling with the issues of indigenous survival in the modern era. Highly recommended reading for students of contemporary Native American experience in general, and the writings of Louise Erdrich in particular, Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine: A Casebook is a scholarly compendium of literary criticism and analytical essays organized around the subjects of "Contexts: History, Culture, and Storytelling"; "Mixed Identities and Multiple Narratives"; Individual and Cultural Survival: Humor and Homecoming"; and Reading Self/Reading Others".

I checked this book out at the library and after reading it, I decided that I had to own it. I don't usually read books twice, but this book was so enjoyable. The author's style of writing and her characters have depth and give a wonderful sense of emotion. This is a great book which I loved to read bits at a time. The ending is difficult because it doesn't really live up to the rest of the book I thought, but the reader discovers a secret about Delphine (the main character) which gives some satisfaction.

"Route Two" is a slim little volume that is only 34 pages long. It was written by the then husband and wife team of Michael Dorris ("A Yellow Raft in Blue Water") and Louise Erdrich ("Love Medicine"). "Route Two" is a travel memoir of their trip west from New Hampshire to Washington along Route Two. The insides of the book covers have a map of the United States with the path of their trip highlighted in yellow.

Route Two runs along the northern border of the United States near Canada. Erdrich and Dorris describe the road as being fairly desolate, but with a definite beauty. It is open country with the road passing through towns and regions that most people will never see. Erdrich and Dorris describe little bits of their trip (you measure time by how many different license plates you see, by how many news broadcasts are on the radio) in both the driving and in the locations that they stopped. Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris succeed in making what is in all likelihood a very lonely stretch of highway across the country in to being a road that has a history and a personality that is inviting. This may be a slim volume, but I found it to be a very interesting one. The hardcover edition of "Route Two" is rather rare, however, with only 275 numbered and autographed editions available (as well as 26 lettered editions).

Two stories are intertwined here, and I didn't want either one to end! Erdrich's amazing writing brings these characters into vivid focus, and the story is so compelling. She shows us people as they really are: sometimes admirable, sometimes despicable, sometimes pitiful -- but she always depicts them with compassion. I will remember this book for a long time.

I was drawn to this book because I have read Louse Edrich's books before and I enjoyed her treatment of American Indian history and lore. I do not know a lot about it myself, but I assume she researches these things quite a bit before she writes about them. It would be interesting to go back and check some of her historical background and presentations to see if they are accurate.

Loiuise Edrich's book, the Painted Drum is a story about a mother and daughter team of estate appraisers who find a treasure of a painted American Indian drum in someone's attic. The story is developed at first as part of the lives of the mother and daughter. The daughter has stolen the drum for a reason that she doesn't quite understand herself! Later on, the drum is returned to its rightful owners and we learn of its story as Bernard, the grandson of its creator tells it. The story of the drum kept me interested as it wove through the generations and told of the life and hardships of the drum's maker. It made the drum's creator seem like a real person to me, not just a person from a book.

As an audiobook, this is really special. That is because Anna Fields is really gifted in the way she uses her voice to depict the characters. Even when she does the voices of men, she does so very convincingly. I haven't heard an authentic American Indian accent, but I imagined hers were close to the real thing and I could almost see the characters in my mind.

I would really reccommend this book. I would especially reccomend it to someone who is interested in American Indian history and lore.

Life and Death
I thought The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich had both good and bad qualities. I didn't like how the book was structured or some of the characters. Faye's story didn't really have anything to do with the drum. I know she found it and in some way it helped her move on in her life, but that was barely discussed at all. I don't think Fay added much to the story. I would rather have heard more about Bernard and Ira. Also, the Pillager family tree seems to stretch far and wide. I found it hard to keep track of who was related to whom.
What I liked about this novel was the theme. It had to do with both life and death. Many of the characters didn't know at first why they should live, yet near the end everyone found a purpose for their lives. Some of them were also able to come to terms with the death of their loved ones. That's not a very easy thing to do. I think the moral in this book has a lot to teach people about life and how to get past death.

After reading many of Louise Erdrich's novels, I had become tired of their similarities -- until, that is, I decided to give The Painted Drum a chance. Erdrich's novel recaptures the originality of her earlier work and improves it with the maturity of a veteran novelist, succeeding with her multiple narratives as she never has before.

The author has been quoted as describing her writing style as a patchwork quilt, piecing scraps of stories together until they form a beautiful whole. In The Painted Drum, these scraps consist of two major plots: the present day story of Faye, a contemporary woman living with a sense of loss, and the history of a painted drum Faye acquires. The novel's structure is not as simple, however, as this division suggests, as individual stories abound. The throbbing resonance of the drum takes on haunting meaning as its history, traced back to its creation, is revealed. Although the lineage of the drum defines the novel's scope, the stories that surround it veer off in tangents.

Although the Ojibwe history and cast of characters (including the familiar Fleur Pillager) give this novel a complexity that goes beyond what Erdrich has accomplished in recent books, Faye's story steers the work in a new direction, one that gives the ancient spirituality of Native Americans an urgency in contemporary America. The connections between mothers and daughters, between the dead and the living, and among survivors lend this novel poignancy and hope, even if the hope seems less solid that the grief itself.

I highly recommend this novel, especially to fans of Love Medicine and The Beet Queen.

I've got one word to sum up this book - yawn. I've been a fan of many of Erdrich's earlier novels, such as The Bingo Palace, and Love Medicine. Erdrich has made a name for herself as a writer who vividly portrays the balancing act of Native Americans in a westernized world. Sadly, The Painted Drum doesn't live up to her earlier writing, and is beyond boring. Erdrich seems to be following in the vein of movies these days, that is to say forgetting to include a plot. The book begins as a dull and detailed description of sifting through the junk in someone's attic, which is about as interesting as watching paint dry in someone's attic. I was so bored I couldn't even finish listening to the book. Do yourself a favor, and pass on The Painted Drum.

Great account of a parent dealing with a child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The read was light and interesting. Highly recommended for those who want a different perspective on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Michael Dorris is and advocate for the poor innocent victims of fetal alcohol effect and fetal alcohol syndrome. In "The Broken Cord", Michael sets out to inform his readers about this unfortunate condition. Fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effect happens to babies when they are still in the womb. Basically, if the biological mother of the child consumes excessive amounts of alcohol while still carrying the baby, it can cause severe disfigurations, as well as a lack of development of the brain. Alcohol affects these children in a different way than a grown person. The Broken Cord shows how great the effects of alcohol can be on these children.

Mr. Dorris is a college educator of Native American descent. He is an adoptive father to three children and a biological father to three children, that he has had with his wife, Louise. Michael has personally experienced fetal alcohol syndrome, through his child. One of his adopted children, Adam, has a more severe case of fetal alcohol syndrome. Mr. Dorris really knows how unfair it is for these kids to have to deal with this, when it wasn't even their fault or their choice.

Mr. Dorris really does an excellent job of communicating through his many personal stories and statistics, how important it is for people to be informed about fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effect. When Michael explains the hardships that he has had to face with his son Adam because of this situation, and when he talks about how Adam will never be able to function normally, it really makes you think about how lucky many of us are.

Throughout the book, Michael Dorris clearly explains and informs you about the conditions, while also holding your interest with his touching and accurate stories. These stories assist the understanding of the effects of FAS and FAE, for example, not learning from your mistakes. After reading this book and finding out how fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effect affect so many people's lives, it will make you want to learn more about FAS and FAE.

The book is well written and interesting.
You may not want to read further if you want to experience the book as it was intended to be read. It is especially interesting considering that a few years later (in 1991), "Adam" was hit by a car and killed, Dorris and Erdrich were accused of child abuse by their second son, and the couple divorced in 1995, the same year Dorris entered alcohol treatment. In 1997, Dorris committed suicide.

I consider this one of the most important books I've ever read (and like you, I've read A LOT of books). It's one of the few books you pick up in a lifetime that change how you see the world. Along with "Plagues and Peoples" and "Guns, Germs and Steel," it's in my permanent Top Three for non-fiction books.

No one asks to be born with FAS or other mental disabilities. They don't ask to be harmed in utero, or neglected afterward, either by their parents or by society. Yet they must somehow cope in life, and so must those around them.

That we live in the richest country in the world, yet are too selfish to ensure adequate pre- and post-natal care for every child is horrifying, and we all pay the price in the long run.

This memoir/ public health history is engaging, disturbing and educational. It touched on many things to which I can relate...having a degree in anthropology (as the author does), being a former social worker and currently in school to become Special Ed. teacher I want to give this book to everyone I know who doesn't live in my world and see these things happening around them and to those who do live in my world so we can start a discussion about how to combat this tragedy.

I had my own first emotional experience with a young man who, as a social worker, I took a special interest in. After several evaluations and diagnoses nothing added up. Some said depression, others said ADHD; then it became Oppositional Defiant Disorder....After nearly everything was exhausted a Drug Rehab counselor asked him to draw a circle (fine motor skills) and pulled me aside and said he was FAE; It was an aha moment....I realized that many of the clients I had been beating my head against the wall over because nothing helped exhibited many FASD signs...It's not just the small kids with cleft lip....

It was interesting hearing Michael Dorris' discussion of the Indian Community and the overwhelming pull of alcohol. I worked at an American Indian Center and had parents and children who regularly drank together; something that I could not fathom and which I was told was "an Indian thing." Dorris gives more in depth historical perspective as well as holding people accountable for their individual actions. As a liberal (and anthropologist) I could relate to his hesitance to blame the moms...but it was good to see a mirror held up to myself; the problem exists and we must take personal responsibility and do everything to stop it. I know these kids and it is a tragic life. Read this book!