Edited by Sara St. Antoine
Milkweed Editions
www.Milkweed.org
1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415
800-520-6455
This is one of five books in a series called "Stories from Where We Live." Each book covers a different North American "ecoregion--an area with similar natural features and cultural traditions." But while the areas within the Plains region are similar, the characters in the stories are as varied as the wildlife of the plains.
Over 40 different authors, including Carl Sandburg and Georgia O'Keefe, take you to special places from their experiences. Decades on the great prairie are woven together by the common bond of life in this rugged yet beautiful landscape. You will meet Native Americans as well as immigrants. You will learn about plant and animal life native to the region. You will share in the adventures and the struggles of boys and girls, men and women who first settled in the great prairie and who populate it today.
The stories and poems in The Great North American Prairie are short and easy reading for almost all ages. The book will work as a companion to your homeschooling studies or simply as bedtime story reading, as I have done. The stories are sure to spur a student's imagination. Use them as a springboard to more in-depth studies of the rich culture of the Great North American Prairie.
There is little to find objectionable in this collection. There are a few stories that refer to ancient history as "millions of years." And some stories contain pantheistic ideas; however, the ideas are usually central to the characters in the narrative and can be interesting material for discussion about different beliefs.
There are childhood recollections, poetry, tall tales, and recipes. Immerse yourself in these stories and you will feel the cool prairie wind after a thunderstorm, smell the sweet summer wildflowers, and see the buffalo and wild horses roaming the tall grass plains.
Product review by Bill Niceley, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, December 2006
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