This is a book I have carried around for years. I think I got it at the Loussac Library book sale in Anchorage, Alaska years ago when my sister worked there. I have never actually read it until now. It just seemed like a book I would like. But honestly, every time I opened it, the sheer quantity of words turned me off. It is like a picture book and chapter book got smushed together and neither came out the winner.
I want to love this book. I mean a book about kids growing up in the Midwest--how could I not love it?
Well I managed. This is written by the same team that did Prairie Alphabet, which was pretty successful. Something got lost in this effort. The writing was too earnest and the pictures too dated.
There is one picture per month to go along with the story of the month. For whatever reason, the author thought it best to use a different family each month. Instead of a continuous progression of character development, we have these short little snippets about characters who leave us at the end of the month. Such fleeting things, these months and characters!
I am not all that kind about this book, BUT if you view this book as a collection of short stories based on kids living on the prairies, it is probably pretty good. I just had different expectations.
(I feel like a terrible human when I say I didn't like a book that someone invested time and effort in. So try this one out yourself before dismissing it on my say so.)
January is hockey tournaments.
February is s snowmobile derby.
New piglets in March
Despite my misgivings about the set up, the stories do reflect the Midwest pretty accurately.
April is new chicks!
May is planting time
Fair in July
August is the wheat harvest
Grandparents teaching kids things about farming--I swoon a little.
Halloween--trucks full of the costumed.
Snowy Christmas world!
I love prairie kids.
