My family recently read The Sign of the Beaver together and it was such a rich learning experience for me and my children.

This coming-of-age, adventure story unfolds as the main character seeks survival in a dangerous wilderness, learning from the nearby Native American tribe known as the “Beaver” clan. This story challenges assumptions and beliefs during the late 1700s in North American, a time of European colonization.

My children and I loved this story and the abundant opportunities for learning embedded in the book. This blog post includes details about the story, plus some of the activities we did alongside the read-aloud.

In this blog post:

• The Sign of the Beaver summary
• Themes in The Sign of the Beaver
• The Sign of the Beaver book study ideas and activities
• How we use Treehouse Book Club in our homeschool
• Treehouse Book Club community photos

The Sign of the Beaver summary

The Sign of the Beaver is a children’s historical novel that follows 13-year-old Matt Hallowell, an 18th-century American settler in Maine. After he and his father build a log cabin in the wilderness, Matt goes on many adventures as he is left alone to guard the cabin when his father leaves to retrieve the rest of their family. 

While guarding the cabin, Matt learns how to survive in the wilderness with help from an Indian chief’s grandson, Attean, and his family. As Matt questions whether or not his father will return, he is invited to join the Beaver tribe and move north with them. 

The Sign of the Beaver Book Study is available now. 
This is a perfect choice if your children love adventure stories and is loved by both older and younger children. 

Themes in The Sign of the Beaver

There are so many opportunities for learning as you read The Sign of the Beaver. Some of the themes in the story are:

• History of log cabins
• Geography and history of Maine
• Wabanaki tribes
• French-Indian War
• Bees and hives
• Primitive animal traps
• Beaver dams and beavers
• Edible and poisonous plants
• Black Bear
• Native American homes
• Native American games
• Native American food
• Moose
• Fisher Cat 

This book is an excellent choice if you are looking to add a work of literature suitable for upper elementary children or round out your history curriculum with a young adult fiction novel. 

Related: 20 Read Aloud Books for Nature Lovers [Free Book List]

The Sign of the Beaver book study ideas and activities

As we read  The Sign of the Beaver, we used The Sign of the Beaver Book Study to map out our four-week reading schedule, engage in discussion about the reading, and do activities and projects that coordinate with the story. Here are some of the activities we loved:

We learned all about log cabins through research and notebooking, and constructed delicious ones out of pretzels and graham crackers!

How we use Treehouse Book Club in our homeschool

We originally read The Sign of the Beaver as a part of Treehouse Book Club.  Treehouse Book Club is a monthly book club membership designed for families with children ages 6-12. I designed Treehouse Book Club as a way to dive deep into living literature in your homeschool connecting themes to science, nature, geography, history, and language arts. The book club guides include a reading schedule, activity ideas, discussion questions, writing prompts, and more, and are designed to join with an online or in-person community.

Related: Introducing Treehouse Book Club

In my family, we read the Treehouse Book Club selection together over lunch and use this as a jumping off point to explore literature together, along with themes in history and science. 

I love that we can use the reading plan and Book Club Guide from Treehouse Book Club as a way to blend literature with other subjects my children are studying. I created it to be an organic way to read high-quality literature and explore new topics like geography, historical figures, vocabulary, and more in an organic way.

Related: Favorite Homeschool Curriculum Choices for 5th Grade

After finishing the book, we meet with a group of friends who have also read the book to celebrate finishing the novel, give presentations, eat snacks related to the story, and more. I love that we have a template to engage and share in learning with our friends and family. We benefit so much from collaborating and learning with one another!

Related: Summer of the Monkeys Book Study

See a sample lesson plan from Treehouse Book Club here!

Treehouse Book Club community photos

I love seeing how the fun and learning other families chose while using The Sign of the Beaver Book Study! 

Did you read The Sign of the Beaver? Let me know your favorite parts in the comments below. To share in all the fun, join Treehouse Book Club today!