In summer the reindeer eat the soft shoots of shrubs and trees.  In winter they feed on moss called lichen.  They get the lichen themselves.  They would not eat it if it were gathered for them.  In winter they dig down through the snow with their feet to get at the lichen.  They dig first with one fore foot and then with the other.  The snow is often so deep that the reindeer has to dig a hole so large that its body is almost hidden.

The reindeer are not put in stables.  They like to be out in the cold and snow.  They are able to take care of themselves.

The Lapps eat a good deal of meat.  Their meat is the flesh of the reindeer.  They are very fond of fat.  All people who live in very cold countries eat a great deal of fat.  It helps to keep them warm.  The Lapps also have milk and cheese.  They eat rye bread and fish and berries.  They drink coffee.

[Illustration:  A White Bear.]

In winter they have to melt snow in a pot over the fire to get water. 
The rivers and lakes are all frozen.

The Lapps cook their food in a large pot over the fire.  They sit around the fire to eat.  The father takes a piece of meat out of the pot.  Then he serves a piece to each.  The Lapps use no forks.  They use their fingers instead.

In some places they have a funny way of storing their food.  They make a little log house on the top of a post.  They have a ladder to go up to it.  In this little house they store cheese and milk and other things.  Then wild animals cannot reach them.

[Illustration:  A Lapland Wolf.]

There are bears and wolves and foxes in Lapland.  These animals are sometimes very fierce.  They would come into the people’s tents and houses at night, were it not for the dogs.  Nearly every person has a dog.  Even the hoys and girls have dogs.  The dogs are very brave.  They are not afraid to attack wolves or bears.

But you will wish to know about the children in Lapland.  You have heard about the old woman who lived in a shoe.  The Lapp baby has a cradle shaped like a shoe.  It is made of a single piece of wood.  It is lined with moss and other warm things.  The mother often carries it in her arms.  Sometimes she carries it on her back, slung from her shoulders.  The baby plays with strings of buttons or glass beads.

When a baby is born in Lapland they give it a reindeer.  If the reindeer has any young ones, they keep them for the baby until it is a man or woman.  They also give a reindeer to the person who is the first to find that the baby has cut a tooth.

The Lapp boys and girls have very few toys.  The toys they have they make themselves.  The boys make willow flutes and play on them.  When the boys go on the water they have long, narrow boats like canoes.  Some boys also make sleighs.

Many of the boys and girls go to school.  They learn to read and write and count.