The Eskimo Twins

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Fair. Lucy Fitch Perkins. 191, [9] pages. Illustrations. Decorative cover. Cover worn, soiled, and edges and corners rubbed and bumped. Writing and cross outs inside front cover and on fep. Names of previous owners on "This book belongs to" page. Includes Introduction--The Eskimo Twins. Also includes chapters on The Twins Go Coasting; Koolee Divides the Meat; The Twins go Fishing; The Snow House; The Feast; The Reindeer Hunt; What Happened when Menie and Koko went Hunting by themselves; The Woman-Boats; The Voyage; the Summer Day, and Suggestions to Teachers. This book is designed for students in the second grade, and is illustrated by the author. Lucy Fitch Perkins (July 12, 1865 - March 18, 1937) was an American illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for Dutch Twins (1911) and its sequels, the Twins series. In 1906, Perkins published her first work, The Goose Girl, a collection of children's rhymes. A year later, she followed with A Book of Joys: A Story of a New England Summer, but both works had limited popular appeal. In 1911, she published The Dutch Twins, her first major work. The book was inspired by friend Edwin Osgood Grover, who saw a picture Perkins drew of a pair of Dutch children. Grover suggested to Perkins that she design a series centered around the twins. Perkins took the advice, and the Twins series were a popular success. She published 26 books in the Twins series for the Houghton Mifflin Company. For each book, Perkins would try to interview an individual who grew up in the given country to gain an understanding of the particular customs. Share the adventures of Menie and Monnie, 5 year-old twins in an Eskimo village, where the villagers have to provide for all their own needs. Their father, Kesshoo, is a brave fisherman and strong hunter and their mother Koolee is clever in making clothing and shoes out of the skins of the animals which he brings home. We watch the twins as they spot a polar bear while coasting on their sleds, then join with the villagers in the sharing of the meat and the feasting afterwards. Among the other activities they enjoy are ice fishing, building a snow house, hunting for seals, and traveling by boat to their summering ground where they catch salmon to dry for the winter. Children are captivated by the humor and playfulness in this community where the winter night lasts for four long months! Suitable for ages 6 and up.