Turtle Island: The Story of North America's First People

I expected a book of stories, probably my own fault for not reading close enough, but its like a text book, like the other books I purchase for our homeschool. I was really pleased.

Overall, a really useful take on North American history from a First Nations perspective.Before I delve into the book itself, I want to add that I bought both the print book AND the Kindle edition. Because of the complex visual layout, the Kindle edition was hard to navigate and I found it impossible to zoom in on the illustrations. So I recommend sticking with the print version for clarity and readability.Now to the book itself.We are Canadians living in Israel, but I believe it's very important for my kids to grow up feeling Canadian and understanding the history of North America, including First Nations history. I read this aloud with my kids (12 and 15) and we found it very helpful as a complement to other areas of history we had already learned about from other parts of the world. Maps and illustrations throughout make it a pleasure to read without dumbing down the content.Much of the history presented is speculative, due to the lack of written records along with artifacts. Therefore, the book also delves a little into how anthropologists piece together what happened long ago, and the text is interwoven well with stories and myths, which are clearly differentiated from the more factual content.The final chapter includes a section of First Nations people who have contributed to modern society, which is unfortunately a little underwhelming. Most are hockey players and musicians, though visual artists and writers are also mentioned. I felt this inadvertently undermined the previous material about the richness and vibrancy of the culture, though I understand why it was included. Perhaps it should have been presented more as, "Despite centuries of oppression, First Nations people have succeeded, undaunted, in making contributions to many areas of society, such as music, sports, art, literature, science, and more."Nevertheless, this is a small hiccup in what is overall a delightful and interesting book. I hope Turtle Island opens the door to further exploration of First Nations history in homeschools, classrooms, and history texts.

This book is phenomenal! You should absolutely buy it! Just not from Amazon—these copies are extremely poorly bound. The pages come out very easy, especially with daily use. It was mostly the same set of pages, 83-96, that came out in 15 of the 20 copies we purchased, as well as some other pages in a few. Very disappointed. But again, it’s a great book—buy it elsewhere!

The authors do a marvelous job laying out the chronological and geographic scope of Indigenous populations of North America from the beginning of Earth/North American creation until the present. This book should be on every library shelf.

Authentic and not appropriated story telling.More white people should read it and check their privileges at the door!-journey to better understanding

Great book

Don't buy Kindle version. Any device the print is way too small. Good content.

I seriously loved this book. It was definitely written for a young set of readers, and it's a super general kind of overview of the history of North America before the arrival of european colonialists. I definitely learned some interesting facts, though, and am looking forward to sharing this book with my school-aged son.I think it would be a good book for people, in general, to read, but especially north americans, because many people don't really understand the length and breadth of the history of the first nations peoples of this continent, or how many advances and innovations they had in their world before the settlers came. This book isn't preachy, but it doesn't flinch from truth. I think it would be a wonderful conversation starter for families interested in opening dialogue into deeper and more troubling, related subjects, and also for those who want to gently raise awareness.

A good book for children, although written by an academic, it isn't academic.

This incredible book should be part of the curriculum in every school in North America. There's so much to learn.

Used this book for social sciences for Grade 6 students. Provides a lot of interesting ideas and arguments that really gets the class thinking. This book is an excellent addition, but not replacement for, the social science curriculum. Also, its use will increase familiary with the pre-contaxc history and challenges of Indigenous People's in North America

Bought for a racist family member. They liked the pictures.It’s a beautiful book packed full of interesting stories and info.

I so wanted a book that went through history from a First Nations perspective but sadly this one seems to jump all over. I find it super hard to follow which means it probably won’t work well for my kids. It reads like a text book too which isn’t really what I had in mind. I’m pretty disappointed.