Totem Pole

This is a really neat book about a boy's family's Indian heritage (Tsimshian). He traces back his ancestors from Alaska and their ways of life; the pictures show him exploring the artifacts saved by his ancestors, working with his father, wearing semi-traditional clothes, helping build the totem pole, and celebrating with his fellow tribes people on the reservation. The narrative aspect is calm and touching, though never sentimental; I really enjoyed reading this and think it has some lovely lessons that are worth discussing in a classroom. There's also a little glossary in the back, so there's some vocabulary worth teaching here--great book!!

Text is written as narration by a boy who appears to be about 10 or 11 years old, and is telling us about his dad, who is a native Pacific Northwest Coast Artist and Carver. This short book is a snapshot of a short period in time when his dad carves a totem pole, and it is raised at the entrance to an indian reseervation.The text sounds to me like it was written by an adult trying to sound like a kid, and it doesn't sound quite right when I read it. Although this will catch the ear of an adult, I haven't noticed that kids are bothered or notice.More importantly, it is a nice little book written from the persepective of a boy who is proud of his dad and his heritage, and is eagerly adopting his heritage and helping his dad, and wants to be like his dad, who is an excellent, positive role model. The photos are excellent and very nicely enhance and illustrate the text. The quality of the book is very high. I'd strongly recommend it for someone who wants a child's book to read to kids 5-12 years old, or to be read by kids ages 7 or 8 to 12 to read themselves. Not only does the book do a nice job of telling a story and teaching a little about totem poles and Pacific Northwest Coast Indian culture, perhaps even more importantly the boy in the story provides a very positive role model for the kids who read this book.