These books about Alaska inspired our homeschool for the month of January. We used them as jumping off points to follow rabbit trails. From them, we were inspired in the realms of art, nature, science, geography, history, and food. Presenting: our Alaska booklist!
Picture Books about Alaska
L is for Last Frontier
This series of alphabet books is always so much fun. We appreciate the style of having short poems with more informative text on the sidebars. There are illustrations and fun trivia questions at the end.
North Country Christmas
That’s right, it’s January and we’re reading a Christmas story. This one is included in my Christmas Around the USA study of the states. Join Sam and Ellie as they travel with Nick to spread Christmas cheer. The sled dogs lead the way, and they travel on the Aurora Borealis to get back home. This book is old enough that Nick is referred to as an Eskimo, but only once, in the summary on the back cover. Following my unit study, we learned about the many Inuit names for snow and watched a video of how an igloo is built. This tied in perfectly with our chapter book read-aloud, Alaska Drums.
Hanukkah in Alaska
Another book highlighting the Aurora Borealis! This is a funny story about a moose who lives in a girl’s backyard. How will she be able to lure him away and keep her outdoor swing safe? The Author’s note provides further information about Hanukkah and the aurora borealis.
The Aurora Borealis
I digress from my books about Alaska. After two books about the Aurora Borealis, we had to watch some videos about what causes the Aurora Borealis, the magnetism of the earth, the sun and solar flares, and the layers of the atmosphere.
And then we had to do some Aurora Borealis art. I didn’t have black paper, or smudging chalk would have been so easy. (We did that project back with our study of Canada) I did have pastels, so we used these two videos:
- Drawing the Northern lights(Aurora borealis) with soft pastels | Leontine van vliet
- Art with Oil pastels | Northern Lights drawing for beginners – step by step
Alas, our oil pastels WOULD NOT SMUDGE. I did a little research. Were they old? Yes, they are oldddddd. So we smudged it with a bit of oil, using our fingertips and Q-tips.
Back to the Booklist
Mush!
Dive into the history of the Iditarod, Alaska’s longest sled-dog race. My youngest asked if we had watched a movie about this years ago. Wow, really? I didn’t even remember, but we had apparently watched “Iron Will.” He must’ve been 5 at the time, but he remembered!
This book is older and refers to the native population as Eskimo. A good chance to explain “Why you probably shouldn’t say Eskimo” and an opportunity to learn about the Alaskan Native tribes.
We watched this video that was published last year: Inside the 51st Iditarod. It explains the race, history, and the controversy around sled dog racing.
The Giant Cabbage
This is an adaptation of the Russian folktale where friends must work together to pull a giant turnip. In this case, it’s a cabbage in Alaska! The endnotes describe how vegetables flourish under the Midnight Sun and there is a Giant Cabbage Contest at the Palmer Alaska State Fair.
Of course, we had to see what a giant cabbage looks like, so we watched this youtube video: 2012 New World Record Cabbage at Alaska State Fair.
The book also has a recipe in the back for “Moose’s Cabbage Soup.” Now, my kids are not fans of the way I usually prepare cabbage, but they thought this soup was delicious. Some of them even helped prepare it! Win-win all around.
The Salmon Princess
A fun take on the Cinderella story, Cinder is my kind of girl! She is practical and attends the Silver Salmon Festival in Alaska with the help of a magic eagle. The author lived in Alaska with her husband, a commercial salmon fisherman, so she is writing this book from experience. We used my language arts unit, Cinderella Stories Around the World in 40 Books along with this book.
You got it, then we pulled out some nature books about the life cycle of the salmon and watched a video about Alaskan salmon. And, guess what? They’re really that red, with greenish faces!
Larry Gets Lost in Alaska
Yesssss, a map! In this book, Pete and his dog Larry are aboard a cruise of the Inside Passage. We learn about the unique towns along the way. Larry boards a seaplane and we experience even more of Alaska as Pete and his parents search for him. The book briefly covers bears, whale watching, the fishing industry, aurora borealis, and Iditarod race.
And here is the video we watched: Alaska and the Inside Passage
Native People’s Books about Alaska
The Frog Princess
This is a Native American Tlingit legend from Alaska. I thought it would be the story of “The Frog Princess” as I knew it, but it’s not! Endnotes provide further context for the illustrations, explaining the Tlingit Raven and Eagle clans.
The Stolen Sun
This is a story of Native Alaska which begins with a creation myth. Raven creates animals and people, birds, and fish. When the people become violent, Raven takes away the sun. A woman accidentally eats an accidental feather that fell from Raven’s back. A son is born, Raven’s son, and he is the one who attempts to retrieve the sun.
If You Lived in the Alaska Territory
This book has great information about the native people of Alaska from 1912-1935. In the book, it states that the Eskimo are also called Inupiat and Yupiit but the book is old enough that it uses the term Eskimo throughout.
This is a great follow-up to the chapter book, Eagle Drums. Honestly, I did not read this book aloud to my kids (It’s very long!) I showed them the pictures and told them to look through it as they liked.
Chapter Books about Alaska
Eagle Drums
This story is about the Messenger Feast, an Iñupiat legend. The author is Iñupiat and also did the beautiful color illustrations in the book. We listened to this on audiobook, which was helpful because the narrator’s heritage is Iñupiaq, Yu’pik, Cree, and French Canadian. Her pronunciation of the Iñupiaq words added authenticity to the story. I would have probably mispronounced all of the words.
We explored the animal tracks mentioned at the end of the book and hoped to find some of our own on our nature walks.
Sweet Home Alaska
Switching gears a bit, this book covers a different part of Alaska’s history. Set in 1934, the Johnsons are one of many families taking advantage of FDR’s program to give families land in Alaska. In the footsteps of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Terpsichore is going to be a pioneer to the territory of Alaska. You will smile and laugh as you follow her upbeat, can-do attitude.
I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake
The Great Alaska Earthquake is the largest US earthquake recorded, and 2nd largest ever recorded. It occurred in 1964 with a magnitude of 9.2 . Read more about the history of the Great Alaska Earthquake.
For more
I hope this compilation of picture and chapter books about Alaska was helpful! The rest of the US State Booklists and US Indigenous Peoples Booklists that I have posted so far can be found here: Chronological History of the United States.