Prairie Year by Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet and Yvette Moore

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.

A Little Oven by Eleanor Estes

This is a perfectly sweet book. We love Eleanor Estes. She is vintage, but oh so quality! This is a story about two little girls named Genevieve and Helena. I don't have the book at work where I am writing this, but I am pretty sure Helena is from California. Genevieve is from France and they both have moved to Connecticut. They become fast friends.

Eleanor Estes pictures are lovely watercolors with vibrant pops of color.

Genevieve arriving. 

Playing together constantly as all best friends do.

Language is a little tricky, with Genevieve's French accent, but they make it work.

In a show of solidarity, they chew in each other's languages.

Whenever Genevieve is tired, her mother picks her up for a little 'ovin and a little 'uggin.

When she goes home, she asks her mother if she can have a little 'ovin and a little 'uggin. Her distracted mother thinks she is talking about a pretend oven. 

They go to the store to buy an oven, but none of them were what Genevieve was wanting. 

A while later, the two families got together for a playdate. 

When Helena got her little 'uggin and a little 'ovin, Genevieve's mother finally understood what she meant. So she promptly sat down and snuggled. 

And now both little girls had all the lovings and huggings they needed. 

Isn't that adorable?

Monday is Wash Day by MaryAnn Sundby & Tessa Blackham

I found this book last fall in the library. I was instantly smitten. I planned on saving it for spring, but who couldn't use a dose of early springness on a grey day in February? 

And this little family is ridiculously sweet and kind to each other. Even though the girls would rather be playing, they know their mother needs the help. So they help. 

It that ain't love... 

I despised laundry when I was a kid. 

(To be honest, I am not a huge fan of it as a grown up either.) 

The illustrations are all cut paper with 3-D elements that give the objects shadows and make them pop from the page. 

I adore the clothes line and clothes! And those itty bitty clothespins....!

Houses. I am not as crazy about these illustrations. I feel that Tessa Blackham really comes into her own in interiors and clotheslines. But they are still fun! 

 Mother announces that since today is Monday, it is washday. 

Everyone pitches in. 

Those piles of laundry look as though they might fall off the page. 

And the wallpaper and pictures!

Getting water. 

Wringer washing machine. 

Obviously this book is about a long time ago, but it feels fresh. And there is no explanation about long ago, which makes it feel like it really wasn't that long ago. If that makes sense. 

I love the depth the cut paper gives to the illustrations.  

The little brother gets to play, but for the older girls--"first we work and then we play." 

Pouring in the blueing

Rinsing

Hanging out

I love her on her tiptoes hanging out her doll clothes!

Did I mention I loves these illustrations? 

Then they have to iron, fold and put away. But they do it in a lovely shade of pink, so life is rosy.

Did you notice the rug? You need to love it. 

And the ironing board!

Mama kisses her big helpers when they are finally done. 

The girls run outside to play and wait for Daddy. 

Who carries an adorable little lunch pail. 

Weather Wonderings by MWL from Dean's Nursery Rhymes by Johnstones

Autumn winds, 

Winter snows;

Wonder where 

the weather goes? 

Springtime's blooms,

Summer's gold; 

Wonder why 

The winter's cold?

April showers

March winds blow

Wonder who

makes it so? 

                                   ---MWL 

And if you don't know who MWL is, I am right there with you. 

The Skates of Uncle Richard by Carol Fenner & Illus Ati Fomberg

This book is the essence of every childhood daydream. The grandeur the imaginative child can come up with. The crash of reality, and finally, the formation of realistic goals. 

At the beginning of the book--Love this poem! 

Marsha in her dreams--a glorious ice skater

Marsha in reality--a girl with an obsession with watching ice skating on TV

Marsha is pretty sure the only thing standing between and her dream is her lack of white figure skates. With Christmas approaching, she makes sure her mother knows how necessary it is for her to have white figure skates. 

Christmas comes with an ice skate sized box under the tree. The excitement!! But... they are Uncle Richards old skates--the ugliest skates she had ever seen. 

Poof. Her dream is gone. Because no one could dazzle on the ice in ugly skates. 

Finally, a few weeks after Christmas, curiosity gets the better of her and she tries them out. They are less than elegant on her bedroom floor. 

Her brother Leonard finally brings her to the skating pond. He gives her a few brief pointers before skating off with his friends. 

Dreams that die... 

The skates were every bit as awful as they looked. Her ankles were wobbly and it all seemed hopeless. 

Thank goodness for the Uncle Richard's of the world! He skates up and notices his old skates. He ties them on Marsha correctly, making her ankles feel strong. 

Uncle Richard knows a thing or two about skating. 

Suddenly Marsha is skating. Not the flying figure 8's she dreamed of, but the tenative skating of someone just learning. 

The difference between the dream and the reality is a wide gulf of effort. I always breezed over that part in my dreams--one day I would just wake up able to (                ).  Fill in the blank with some enviable talent. 

Marsha, just starting out, trades the dream for the reality. Because sometimes, being able to actually skate is even more incredible than being a skater on TV. 

Push, glide....push, glide. Past her staring brother she skated. Hardly even a wobble. Proud, not stiff. She glided away on the skates of Uncle Richard, taller and taller and taller, never once falling down. 

February from Around the Year by Elsa Beskow

Blue skies and ice

wherever we go,

slipping and sliding 

deep in the snow.

Uphill and downhill,

neither leaf nor green;

the sun bright and clear, 

no grass to be seen.

Woolies and hoods,

on toboggans all day.

Gloves on our hands

and Spring far away. 

Bak home Mama's baking

 big loaves and small. 

How hungry we are--

we'll soon eat them all!