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| Sign of the Beaver (Study Guide) | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth George Speare
Publisher: Scholastic
Category: Book
Buy New: $3.99
New (2) Used (2) from $3.81
Avg. Customer Rating:  194 reviews
Sales Rank: 674411
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.1
ISBN: 0439044758
EAN: 9780439044752
ASIN: 0439044758
Publication Date: September 30, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New! Immediate Shipment!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
When his father returns East to collect the rest of the family, 13-year-old Matt is left alone to guard his family's newly built homestead. One day, Matt is brutally stung when he robs a bee tree for honey. He returns to consciousness to discover that his many stings have been treated by an old Native American and his grandson. Matt offers his only book as thanks, but the old man instead asks Matt to teach his grandson Attean to read. Both boys are suspicious, but Attean comes each day for his lesson. In the mornings, Matt tries to entice Attean with tales from Robinson Crusoe, while in the afternoons, Attean teaches Matt about wilderness survival and Native American culture. The boys become friends in spite of themselves, and their inevitable parting is a moving tribute to the ability of shared experience to overcome prejudice. The Sign of the Beaver was a Newbery Honor Book; author Elizabeth Speare has also won the Newbery Medal twice, for The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Bronze Bow. (Ages 12 and older) --Richard Farr
Product Description
Left alone to guard the family's wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 189 more reviews...
 Rousing and thoughtful adventure December 25, 2008
I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought I would--having heard that it is offensive to Native American. I do not mean this offensively, but I think I would have to have all that offends pointed out to me.
However, I found this a truly fascinating story of survival and the beauty of the natural world. It's a fairly classic story of a friendship between two very different boys, but as usual and as wonderfully they find similarities.
Speare draws from Robinson Crusoe to make comparisons in this story--I thought that was a nice touch. But she herself as a wonderful gift with words that makes this a beautiful and spirited story.
Also, as a teacher I could not help but love the scenes where reading was taught. It appealed to me.
A Realistic Picture of Pioneer Days Without Being Mawkish or PC November 27, 2008
Speare gives a realistic picture of the edgy but generally humane interactions between the Native Americans and the European settlers. SOTB is unstintingly honest but not depressingly so, and is interesting in its description of life in those days. And it gives many interesting details about life as lived in earlier and simpler times. I enjoyed reading it to my kids and they seemed to enjoy it too. Recommended.
Sign of the Beaver Book Review September 24, 2008
I rmember reading this book as a child, so when I found it again as an adult, I knew I HAD to have it again.
 Perpetuates Stereotypes July 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a fourth grade educator, I would never introduce this book to my students as anything else other than an example of popular culture that perpetuates stereotypes of Native Americans. Attean and other Native American characters speak in broken English, giving the reader the impression that these characters are inferior to their White counterparts. The terminology used is highly offensive (squaw)for both Native people and for women. The relationship that Attean has with girls in his tribe as well as with animals is unrealistic and down right inaccurate. Joseph Bruchac and Michael Dorris are two authors which do an excellent job of writing from the Native American perspective.
One of the greatest literary adventures of my childhood. May 1, 2008
This book is captivating and impossible to put down even now as I approach age 30. As a girl I found it spellbinding, the kind of book that makes your own world and time dissolve around you and casts directly in the life and time of the characters. It is far to rare that an author can weave that kind of story. Elizabeth George Speare certainly has that gift. Don't hesitate to buy this for the children in your life. Also by E. G. Speare be sure and check out The Witch of Blackbird Pond and one of my all-time favorites, Calico Captive. Enjoy and keep a clock nearby as you're surely going to lose track of time while reading this book.
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