Little House in the Arctic: An Adventure Story

by Kathy Slamp

Book Overview

Little House in the Arctic is a true story of a bygone era written for "children of all ages." It will capture your imagination from the very first page as you read about pioneer life in a rugged... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971334536
• ISBN13: 9780971334533
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Vessel Ministries
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"The sun never sets on the work of the church"

Nowadays children take the world for granted; or maybe the world is just a smaller place than it used to be. Imagine the excitement of moving from San Antonio, Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1947. That's the story author Kathy Slamp tells in her charming YA book -- and it's the story of her own family. The author's father was a pastor appointed to a small mission church in the Alaskan interior. After a delay of a few months for the birth of their third child, these intrepid parents packed two small children and a newborn, plus all their possessions, into an almost-new Hudson automobile and went west. After a winding route to Seattle with stops to visit family and to raise money for the mission, they flew to Fairbanks and took up their new life in the frozen north. Little House in the Arctic weaves stories of everyday family events like plugging the car in at night, emptying the boiler into the well once a week to keep it from freezing, picking berries under the midnight sun, and watching silver salmon being scooped out of the Chena River by fish wheels. Author Slamp recreates the atmosphere of remote Fairbanks, less than half a century after its own gold rush days. Home to Inuit, military personnel and homesteaders, perched near the northwest edge of U.S. soil, Fairbanks had a big military presence during the Korean conflict and was uncomfortably aware of being very close to Russia at the start of the Cold War. This perspective on the middle of the 20th century adds much depth to the book. The family survived their first year and earned the right to call themselves "sourdoughs." The second winter was more challenging, with serious health problems for the family, and they followed that difficult second year with a trip "outside" to visit family and share the work of the mission with church congregations. Incredibly, they DROVE back to Fairbanks on the Alaska Highway, a perilous feat in winter. After five years their father, a restless soul, took a new appointment in Ohio and they left Alaska with great regret and with intimations of their return. But that story is for the sequel! Little House in the Arctic is firmly aimed at the YA audience, growing from stories told by teacher Kathy Slamp to her pupils. Yet there is a wealth of natural and political history and much cultural commentary that would be a great springboard to family discussion. It's the kind of book that should be read aloud with your school-age children as a testament to the joy of living adventurously. Try it -- you may enjoy it as much as I did. Linda Bulger, 2008