Minn of the Mississippi

I have a special place in my heart for the lovingly-detailed works of Holling C. Holling. I adored Seabird as a child, and was excited to find this book second-hand as an adult. The narrative follows the eponymous Minn as she travels the length of the mighty Mississippi from headwaters to delta. You learn a lot about snapping turtles, life on the river, and the changing face of America at the time of the book's writing in 1951.

Holling's mainline narrative is always a bit less interesting than his fascinating marginalia, but all together this one holds together as a fascinating portrait of the land and its ecology. Minn herself is quite fun and ferocious... I can imagine that a young reader would appreciate this fierce female protagonist.

My daughter enjoyed this book a lot though sometimes it was hard to see why. A snapping turtle makes a 25-year journey downstream the Mississippi. The book gives a tour guide of the geology, geography, history and ecology of the river as well and interesting natural history information about turtles. The text is not the best written -- really heavy on metaphor that my daughter had trouble understanding (during the day a paddle boat is a lady throwing back a silky scarf of smoke, at night, a layer cake.) Also, the turtle is a pretty passive observer of men's history and geology. Nevertheless, I loved the big pages, big old-fashioned illustrations and little diagrams along the margins (how canal locks work, turtle nests, maps). I guess I show more love the IDEA of this book, but in actual execution it's not as good as you'd hope. show less

This sixty two year old Newberry Honor book, which was way ahead of its time, is right up my alley. I love Holling Clancy Holling’s “Minn of the Mississippi”. It is an interdisciplinary, imaginative account of a Minnesotan snapping turtle’s adventure down the Mississippi, but it provides a beautifully detailed nonfiction look at the scenery and natural life identified with the famous river. The text can offers an engaging story while giving many interesting facts about the river. I was instantly drawn to the margins where maps, biological diagrams and scenes from the story are beautifully drawn. You could easily use this book in a social studies, science or English class. I just ordered myself a copy from Amazon.

A fictional account of a turtle who lives in the Mississippi. There are many science lessons in the margins that teach biological concepts.

The journey of a snapping turtle from the Mississippi River in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

1.99

HOB