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Twins
The Eskimo Twins
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.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
Lucy Fitch Perkins
101 books22 followersFrom a book jacket: "In 1910, at a crowded school in a poor section of Chicago, Lucy Fitch Perkins found children from twenty-seven different countries learning together. This experience instilled in her a vivid awareness of the task that faced American teachers: to bring out of this potpourri of races one unified nation. Her idea grew into a series of stories, some with geographical backgrounds, others with historical settings. Her goal was to increase sympathy and understanding for the unique qualities of the different nationalities and the heritage left to them and to us by our forebears. The Twins books have received acclaim from librarians, teachers, and parents, but, more important, from the children themselves."
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 18, 2022
The American illustrator and writer of children’s books, Lucy Fitch Perkins wrote her “Twins” series of books at the rate of about one a year, starting with “The Dutch Twins” in 1911. Her final book “The Indian Twins” was posthumously published in 1938. Although they were old by the time I was a child, they were considered classics, and I remember a long shelf of them in the library, all with similar covers to this one. We had some at school too, and probably had to share a book “one between two” as we read. The introduction suggest the ages of 6 to 10 as suitable.
I’m afraid that I never read more than a few of this series, and found some rather boring, worthy though the author’s intention was. The first book was inspired by a friend, Edwin Osgood Grover, who saw a picture Lucy Fitch Perkins had drawn of a pair of Dutch children. Edwin Osgood Grover suggested to her that she could write a series centred around the twins.
Lucy Fitch Perkins was the daughter of a teacher, and she liked the idea. Her goal however, was to “increase sympathy and understanding for the unique qualities of the different nationalities and the heritage left to them and to us by our forebears.” She took her friend’s advice, writing about imaginary children ranging in ages from 5 to 12, but her idea was to write a series of stories about different twins around the world, some with geographical backgrounds and others with historical settings. The Twins series was a success, and the books became popular.
In “The Irish Twins”, Eileen and Larry live in a village, and find a baby pig which they sell at a fair to pay the rent. When the rent is raised they emigrate to America. I can see why this would appeal to Americans - and also to the Irish - for so long subject to wealthy English landlords. In “The Cave Twins”, red-headed twins Firetop and Firefly show life at the time. Readers learn about the prehistoric age where the father is a hunter who wears skins, needles are made of bones, and thread is the dried sinews of animals. There is a description of the first boat being made. “The Spartan Twins” save Pericles from two treacherous spies and spend an alarming night locked in a closet in the Erechtheum.
The introduction to The Eskimo Twins by Rhoda Power describes it as “regional geography in disguise”. Perhaps this is why as a child I found the series so dry. The books are just too worthy. And yet, we read:
“The patriots will approve of these children, for the Twins of each land love their country. Those who plead for international education will welcome them, for each book, gay and imaginative as it is, tells how children of other countries live, and, despite the modern language, and an occasional Americanism, gives the atmosphere of the period and place which they describe … Houses, clothes, food, landscapes, customs - all are here - so naturally interwoven with the plot of each story, that the Twins and their surroundings start as though alive from every page.”
The Eskimo Twins Menie and Monnie are 5 years old, and live 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. The children then join with the villagers in the sharing of reindeer meat from the hunt, and the feasting afterwards.
Among the other activities they enjoy are ice fishing, building a snow house, hunting for seals, and travelling by boat to their summer ground where they catch salmon to dry for the winter, where the long night lasts for four long months.
The story has 11 chapters, and some parts are written to be humorous. However it did not really appeal to me. Even the term “Eskimo” is outdated and unacceptable for modern children; the Inuit, Yupik, Aleut and others consider it pejorative.
The Eskimo Twins was the fourth in the series, published in 1914 in the USA and first published in 1922 in Great Britain. There is a list of 29 titles on the back, and interestingly this does not exactly accord with the “complete” list of 26 on Wiki, which I assume are the only ones published in the USA. (The list on Goodreads is even shorter.) The “missing” ones from the USA (if my assumption is correct) are:
The Australian Twins
The Canadian Twins
The Twins of Ceylon
The Twins of India (a separate title from the posthumous “The Indian Twins”)
The New Zealand Twins
The South African Twins
The Turkish Twins
What these seem to have in common are the countries’ strong links to Great Britain, either once being Dependencies or belonging to the Commonwealth.
The missing ones from the editions here in Great Britain are:
The Farm Twins
The Pickaninny Twins (I was relieved this title was not published in Britain!)
The Dutch Twins and Little Brother (1938)
The Dutch Twins Primer (these two titles are in addition to The Dutch Twins)
Jonathan Cape thus reprinted all the specialist American ones in Great Britain, but interestingly neither country has one for “English Twins” (nor Welsh ones). I am intrigued that over all these years Lucy Fitch Perkins never wrote such a title - not even for a particular period of English history - as English twins were hardly her default!
She was however, first published in the United Kingdom, in the “Young Folks” weekly children’s literary magazine. This was published between 1871 and 1897, and she was in good company as this was where the novels by Robert Louis Stevenson such as “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped” were first published in serial form. Perhaps then Lucy Fitch Perkins wrote the “missing” books for the British market. No doubt aficionados will be able to verify this.
I quite enjoyed “The Swiss Twins”, who bravely survived an avalanche, and also “The Chinese Twins”, where the girl Moon Flower ran away so that she could go to school and learn. Perhaps you have to try a few to decide, but despite their classic status, I suspect few are suitable now for their original target audience.
Here is the book online, including the illustrations, if you would like to see for yourself:
https://www.heritage-history.com/inde...
I’m afraid that I never read more than a few of this series, and found some rather boring, worthy though the author’s intention was. The first book was inspired by a friend, Edwin Osgood Grover, who saw a picture Lucy Fitch Perkins had drawn of a pair of Dutch children. Edwin Osgood Grover suggested to her that she could write a series centred around the twins.
Lucy Fitch Perkins was the daughter of a teacher, and she liked the idea. Her goal however, was to “increase sympathy and understanding for the unique qualities of the different nationalities and the heritage left to them and to us by our forebears.” She took her friend’s advice, writing about imaginary children ranging in ages from 5 to 12, but her idea was to write a series of stories about different twins around the world, some with geographical backgrounds and others with historical settings. The Twins series was a success, and the books became popular.
In “The Irish Twins”, Eileen and Larry live in a village, and find a baby pig which they sell at a fair to pay the rent. When the rent is raised they emigrate to America. I can see why this would appeal to Americans - and also to the Irish - for so long subject to wealthy English landlords. In “The Cave Twins”, red-headed twins Firetop and Firefly show life at the time. Readers learn about the prehistoric age where the father is a hunter who wears skins, needles are made of bones, and thread is the dried sinews of animals. There is a description of the first boat being made. “The Spartan Twins” save Pericles from two treacherous spies and spend an alarming night locked in a closet in the Erechtheum.
The introduction to The Eskimo Twins by Rhoda Power describes it as “regional geography in disguise”. Perhaps this is why as a child I found the series so dry. The books are just too worthy. And yet, we read:
“The patriots will approve of these children, for the Twins of each land love their country. Those who plead for international education will welcome them, for each book, gay and imaginative as it is, tells how children of other countries live, and, despite the modern language, and an occasional Americanism, gives the atmosphere of the period and place which they describe … Houses, clothes, food, landscapes, customs - all are here - so naturally interwoven with the plot of each story, that the Twins and their surroundings start as though alive from every page.”
The Eskimo Twins Menie and Monnie are 5 years old, and live 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. The children then join with the villagers in the sharing of reindeer meat from the hunt, and the feasting afterwards.
Among the other activities they enjoy are ice fishing, building a snow house, hunting for seals, and travelling by boat to their summer ground where they catch salmon to dry for the winter, where the long night lasts for four long months.
The story has 11 chapters, and some parts are written to be humorous. However it did not really appeal to me. Even the term “Eskimo” is outdated and unacceptable for modern children; the Inuit, Yupik, Aleut and others consider it pejorative.
The Eskimo Twins was the fourth in the series, published in 1914 in the USA and first published in 1922 in Great Britain. There is a list of 29 titles on the back, and interestingly this does not exactly accord with the “complete” list of 26 on Wiki, which I assume are the only ones published in the USA. (The list on Goodreads is even shorter.) The “missing” ones from the USA (if my assumption is correct) are:
The Australian Twins
The Canadian Twins
The Twins of Ceylon
The Twins of India (a separate title from the posthumous “The Indian Twins”)
The New Zealand Twins
The South African Twins
The Turkish Twins
What these seem to have in common are the countries’ strong links to Great Britain, either once being Dependencies or belonging to the Commonwealth.
The missing ones from the editions here in Great Britain are:
The Farm Twins
The Pickaninny Twins (I was relieved this title was not published in Britain!)
The Dutch Twins and Little Brother (1938)
The Dutch Twins Primer (these two titles are in addition to The Dutch Twins)
Jonathan Cape thus reprinted all the specialist American ones in Great Britain, but interestingly neither country has one for “English Twins” (nor Welsh ones). I am intrigued that over all these years Lucy Fitch Perkins never wrote such a title - not even for a particular period of English history - as English twins were hardly her default!
She was however, first published in the United Kingdom, in the “Young Folks” weekly children’s literary magazine. This was published between 1871 and 1897, and she was in good company as this was where the novels by Robert Louis Stevenson such as “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped” were first published in serial form. Perhaps then Lucy Fitch Perkins wrote the “missing” books for the British market. No doubt aficionados will be able to verify this.
I quite enjoyed “The Swiss Twins”, who bravely survived an avalanche, and also “The Chinese Twins”, where the girl Moon Flower ran away so that she could go to school and learn. Perhaps you have to try a few to decide, but despite their classic status, I suspect few are suitable now for their original target audience.
Here is the book online, including the illustrations, if you would like to see for yourself:
https://www.heritage-history.com/inde...
April 20, 2021
We read this as a read-aloud and the boys and I loved it. I learned a great deal and would like further reading. At several points I had to stop reading because the boys were laughing so hard. They had the same opinion of the Angakok as Menie, Monnie, and Koko had. ;) And when he got stuck in the igloo tunnel there was uncontrollable laughter at the table. We learned how they lived in the winter and in the summer, how they hunted, how not to hunt, all kinds of fascinating things. I also think I learned where they might have gotten the igloo architecture idea from: seals! This was a joy to read for us.
February 7, 2013
I read this to my seven and four year old boys and we all enjoyed it. There were a number of humorous scenes that the boys enjoyed throughly, and they also liked the glimpse into a life so different from there. The chapters can be a little long for reading out loud in one sitting but they are broken into sections which makes the readings a little easier to manage. The book is old, so it does have a dated feel (notice we're reading about Eskimos instead of Inuit and the other tribes!) but the writing is charming and there was very little that I felt like I needed to skip, reword, or gloss over.
April 20, 2015
This book brought back so many memories my Granny let me have her really old copy of this book and I just adore the pictures and reading the adventures that the Eskimo Twins get up to there are funny parts in this book and the chapters are broken down into little chunks I really recommend this book to anyone :)
February 18, 2015
kinda good
April 28, 2021
I loved this little book. It was published in 1914. Therefore, there is no PC language and it's story is told exactly like life was back then. It goes through an entire year of an Eskimo village and the adventures of the twins and their little village. From an adult perspectve as the reader, it's amazing to think of how hard they worked every single day just to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. Such a life of simplicity. And yet, there is plenty of fun and humor.
July 7, 2024
I like old books and chose this one (1914) simply because I’m a twin. Because it was published by Houghton Mifflin I thought it might have been a mid-elementary reading primer, but could find no information to confirm that notion. Based on the twins theme, the author wrote 26 books from 1911-1938. (18 geographical and 8 historical.) The story was cute, informative, perhaps a bit gruesome, yet charming.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews