Island of the Blue Dolphins Lesson Plan

What kind of leader is Kimki and what kinds of decisions does he make?

Kimki tries to be a good leader, getting the villagers back on track after the loss of so many men in the battle with the Aleuts. He assigns women and children tasks that men might have done in the past, warning that those who don’t work will be punished. However, he also faces difficult times as a leader, with people grumbling over the division of labor and with everyone still reeling over the loss of family, so he divides the work a different way. The next spring, he announces his decision to leave the island alone by canoe to a country he had visited as a boy, telling the villagers he’ll return for...