Book review: Chickadee

Reviewed by Karl Hele

Award-winning Chickadee is the fourth book by Louise Erdrich in the Birchbark House series. While it is always good to start a series from the first book, the fourth novel of the Birchbark House Series could be read as a stand-alone novel.

Chickadee continues to follow Omakayas and her family as they move from the Lake of the Woods region onto the plains. Omakayas is now a young mother of twin boys— Chickadee and Makoons. Unlike the previous novels, Chickadee focusses on the story of a twin and his adventures.

The story begins with the family enjoying life, with the twins playing together and tricking an old man. They play a trick on the old man after he verbally abuses Chickadee for his name and apparent weakness. The twins’ revenge backfires when Chickadee is kidnapped by the old man’s sons with the intention of using him as a servant. This event precipitates the family’s move to the plains.

While the family is desperately searching for their son, Chickadee effects an escape and manages to locate his Uncle Quill. Before he is reunited with the rest of the family, Chickadee experiences many a grand adventure for an 8-year-old-boy. The novel ends with Chickadee’s return and Makoons recovering from an unnamed sickness.

Like the previous three novels in the series, Chickadee provides an engaging and exciting read-along providing further knowledge of the Anishinaabeg people. In addition, Erdrich introduces the reader to the customs of the Métis and the Red River cart experience. All of this is done through the eyes of a young boy experiencing all sorts of new sights, smells, and sounds. Erdrich’s excellent storytelling won the novel the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Overall, Chickadee was a joyful read about the next generation of Omakaya’s family.

Louise Erdrich, Chickadee. New York: Harper, 2012. ISBN: 0060577924