Alaska. Say it slowly and it sounds like a melting glacier or endless miles of treeless tundra. Say it quickly and it sounds like a rushing river or an eagle in flight.

Our forty-ninth state is bigger than Texas, California, and Montana put together. What is it like to grow up in a land with more animals than people? Alaskan children play and go to school like children everywhere. But here their game might be the Eskimo high kick or the classroom might be built on floating timber at a logging camp.

Some children live and go to school in towns or cities like Soldotna, Anchorage, or Fairbanks. Others live in the "bush", in tiny villages, snig harbors, or remote cabins. Children who live in the bush may go to small schools with only one or two teachers, or be home-schooled, taking their lessons at the kitchen table. If you want to visit a friend in the bush, you may have to travel by snowmachine, boat, or small airplane because there probably won't be a road to where you want to go.

Whether they live in the city or in the bush, young Alaskans might do ordinary things like belong to Scouts, ride bikes, or watch television. But since this is Alaska, children might also stand in their yards and watch green and pink northern lights dance across the evening sky or look out their bedroom window to see a thousand-pound moose chomp its way through the family garden!

Editorial Reviews

"A combination of photographs, illustrations, and text mix and mingle on each page of this lovely volume to create a kaleidoscope of verbal and visual impressions about Alaska's landforms, wildlife, and people. Murphy describes the area's vastness and uniqueness, and presents geography, history, culture, and natural science as they relate to the changing seasons...The montage of appealing, full-color photographs includes shots of native and non-native people of all ages engaged in daily activities, animals in their natural habitats, and scenic views of the natural landscapes...There's so much packed into 48 pages that readers will want to re-read and look at the pictures over and over again, seeing and learning something new every time."
---SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Following the seasons from one winter to the next, Murphy touches on climate, wildlife, and typical activities of Alaskan children. She distinguishes three groups of native peoples (Aleut, Eskimo, and Indian) and describes the wide variety of lifestyles (ranging from life in the city to living in remote cabins) available to Alaskans. Mason's intriguing, sharply reproduced, full-color photos appear on every page and capture the essence of the Alaskan experience. His subjects range from people and wildlife to glacial lakes, eerie northern lights, huge vegetables, and a time-lapse display of the sun on the shortest day of the year. Small color drawings, mostly of native flora and fauna, add further interest. Although it is aimed more at browsers than at report writers, this will make an excellent source for units on Alaska."
--BOOKLIST

"...What is it like to be a child and live in Alaska; to live in a state where there are more animals than people, and where temperatures may drop to more than fifty degrees below zero? What games and sports do children play? A Child's Alaska by Murphy is about children in Alaska and what they like to do, the special things as well as the everyday things like going to school. Vivid full-color photographs capture the diversity and size of Alaska, its land, animals, the seasons, and the famous Northern Lights. This book is an exciting introduction to a unique way of life found nowhere else in the United States."
--NORTH COUNTY REGIONAL LIBRARY