This reminded me very much of Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Naturally the cultures in each book are hugely different - while Wilder described the life of a white settler family, the community that Erdrich focuses on is Native American. But both have a little girl at the centre of the narrative, and both follow that child over the course of a year. Taking part in the family chores over the changing seasons (including maple syrup tapping!), relationships with family and especially siblings... these are things shared by both books. But I think on balance I prefer The Birchbark House, for several reasons. The sense of place is done really well here, the way of life is new and interesting (at least from my perspective), and the whole smallpox storyline is genuinely affecting. Plus Omakayas herself is an extremely likeable character, and that always helps.