Library Selection for High School Week 1
This week we are reading the story “To Build a Fire” by American novelist Jack London. It is set in the late 1890s in the deadly cold of the Yukon Wilderness and is a story of a man’s perilous journey. Below are links to the print version of the story and the audio version of the story. The print version is about sixteen pages and the audio takes about forty minutes.
As you read this story, consider what you have learned about the characters and their perspetives. What message is the author communicating through this story? Do you agree with the author’s message? What did you learn from this story?
I hope you enjoy the story and learning about another time and place.
Below the story links are a short history of The Yukon and why people were drawn go there, and a brief biography of Jack London. If you enjoy “To Build a Fire” and want to listen to more of Jack London’s works, here are links to audiobooks of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, full novels set in the Yukon. You may also enjoy the five minute story poem The Cremation of Sam McGee written by Robert Service, a contemporary of Jack London’s.
To Build a Fire
To Read the Print Version of To Build a Fire
To Listen to the Audio Version of Build a Fire
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon, in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896, and, when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in artifacts, films, games, literature, and photographs.
To reach the gold fields, most prospectors took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway, in Southeast Alaska. Here, the Klondikers could follow either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River, and sail down to the Klondike. The Canadian authorities required each of them to bring a year's supply of food, in order to prevent starvation. In all, the Klondikers' equipment weighed close to a ton, which most carried themselves, in stages. Performing this task, and contending with the mountainous terrain and cold climate, meant those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed.
Mining was challenging, as the ore was distributed unevenly, and permafrost made digging slow. Consequently, some miners chose to buy and sell claims, build up huge investments, and let others do the work.
To accommodate the prospectors, boom towns sprang up along the routes. At their terminus, Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon Rivers. From a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house approximately 30,000 people by summer 1898. Built of wood, isolated, and unsanitary, Dawson suffered from fires, high prices, and epidemics.
Despite this, the wealthiest prospectors spent extravagantly, gambling and drinking in the saloons. From 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it. In the summer of 1899, gold was discovered around Nome in west Alaska, and many prospectors left the Klondike for the new goldfields, marking the end of the Klondike Rush. The boom towns declined, and the population of Dawson City fell.
Gold mining production in the Klondike peaked in 1903, after heavier equipment was brought in. Since then, the Klondike has been mined on and off, and today the legacy draws tourists to the region and contributes to its prosperity.
John Griffith (Jack) London
January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916)
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". On July 12, 1897, London (age 21) and his sister's husband Captain Shepard sailed to join the Klondike Gold Rush. This was the setting for some of his first successful stories. London's time in the harsh Klondike, however, was detrimental to his health. Like so many other men who were malnourished in the goldfields, London developed scurvy. His gums became swollen, leading to the loss of his four front teeth. A constant gnawing pain affected his hip and leg muscles, and his face was stricken with marks that always reminded him of the struggles he faced in the Klondike. Father William Judge, "The Saint of Dawson", had a facility in Dawson that provided shelter, food and any available medicine to London and others. His struggles there inspired London's short story, "To Build a Fire" (1902, revised in 1908), which many critics assess as his best.
Library Selection for Elementary Week 1
This week we are reading the book The Bravest Dog Ever-The True Story of Balto. This is a story about a sled dog in Nome, Alaska who is called on to heroically deliver medicine to sick people one winter in 1925.
To Listen to the Audio Version of The Bravest Dog Ever-The True Story of Balto
Balto and Gunnar Kaasen
Library Selection for Preschool/Intensive Support Week 1
This week we are reading the five selections below. Click on the Links under each book cover to hear the stories being read to you.
To Listen to the Audio Version of The King, the Mice, and the Cheese
To Listen to the Audio Version of The Gruffalo
To Listen to the Audio Version of The Book With No Pictures
To Listen to the Audio Version of The Tale of Custard the Dragon
To Listen to the Audio Version of Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
If you have questions, please contact the Librarian via email
Amy Brody, NMSBVI Librarian
AmyBrody@nmsbvi.k12.nm.us
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