Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Sign of the Beaver

The Sign of the Beaver
The Sign of the Beaver
Author: Elizabeth George Speare
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.
ISBN-13: 9780440779032
ISBN-10: 0440779030
Publication Date: 1984
Pages: 135
Rating:
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 17

4.4 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: Dell
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

SusanofGreenGables avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 618 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Wonderful book about a boy who is on his own in a cabin in the wilderness. He makes friends with a young indian boy. Great family read-aloud...even my husband is waiting to hear the next chapter every day! :)

This book is used in Sonlight Core 3.
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 109 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
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
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
My daughter absolutely loved this book about a young boy who is left by his father in their wilderness log home in the Colonial times to fend for himself. He meets an Indian boy who shows him how to survive and their friendship flourishes. Your children will love this book.
luvnmyboyz avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Captivating story full of emotion and suspense as two young boys from different worlds come to learn and appreciate one another's ways. Wonderful inside look at the daily life of Native American Indians during the beginning of the Westward Expansion of the U.S.
thezookeeper avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on
Helpful Score: 1
There was a movie made of this book called "Keeping The Promise". The movie was pretty good but could have held a truer picture to the book. The book was better (isn't that usually the case?)
Read All 36 Book Reviews of "The Sign of the Beaver"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

marshallc avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 8 more book reviews
A great book for kids that teaches them how to get along with other cultures.
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 14 more book reviews
I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite book, but it was a good one.
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 4 more book reviews
Fabulous book! One of the best books I have ever read to my children! I always recommend this book to my friends for their children, and we give it as a birthday present all the time!
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on
Great book for 4th or 5th graders.
48lynne avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 2 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite books to read with 4th-6th graders! The courage of the main character, Matt, is something to read about. Good historical fiction.
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 6 more book reviews
This is a historical fiction. It is interesting to imagine life in the late 1700. I am reading it with my 9 year old. She is enjoying it as much as I am.
buzzby avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 6062 more book reviews
Umpteenth story ever written of a 12 year old boy separated from his family who ends up being raised by Native Americans (who always seem willing to take these strange looking white kids under their wing). You have a better chance of being abducted by aliens these days than by our hard-pressed Native American brothers.
coolcat avatar reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 10 more book reviews
I have not personally read this. I have just found it in my attic. Would advise to those who like Native American stories.
reviewed The Sign of the Beaver on + 8 more book reviews
Until the day his father returns to their cabin in the Maine wilderness, twelve-year-old Matt must try to survive on his own. Although Matt is brave, he's not prepared for an attack by swarming bes, and he's astonished when he's rescued by an Indian chief and his grandson, Attean.

Book Wiki

Awards and Honors

Genres: