My Prairie Year: Based on the Diary of Elenore Plaisted

A recreation of pioneer life on the prairies of the Dakotas during the late-nineteenth century follows the experiences of nine-year-old Elenore Plaisted and her family as they leave Maine to become homesteaders in the West

Grade 4-6 Based on the diary of the author's grandmother who moved from Maine to the Dakotas in 1889 at the age of nine, this book might disappoint children who are expecting another Laura Ingalls Wilder story. It is more a descriptive narrative than story, as if a grandmother were actually recounting what life was like in the "olden days." Lacking a definite plot or strong character development, the book's strength is the colorful description of life on the prairies. The text is built around the passing of seasons, each of which had its own distinct quality. Spring ploughing among the wildflowers, hot summer mirages plus a violent tornado, fall thrashing menaced by prairie fire, and the deep snow of winter are vividly portrayed. Elenore Plaisted, a successful children's book illustrator in her later life, brought her artistic sense of imagery to her writing. Harvey states that she has added and rearranged things here and there, but primarily used her grandmother's own words. The text reads well orally, creating bright mental pictures to accompany the black-and-white drawings. The illustrations are soft and shadowy, as if they also are drawn from memory of a time in the past. With a little adult guidance (terms like "darning egg" may need explanation), this book could supplement the study of pioneer life on the prairie. Karen Zimmerman, I.D. Weeks Library, Vermillion, S. Dak.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Elenore Plaisted was nine in 1889, when her family moved from Maine to the Dakotas. Later on, she wrote a retrospective diary of those years, which her granddaughter has now shaped into a story about a family's first year on the prairie. The first night in their new home they had to put blankets on the walls to block the wind. Storms came up quickly. Even a child used to Maine winters found the prairie blizzards intolerable. Spring finally came, seemingly hurried along by the arrival of a surprise package from Aunt Addie back home. Ray's black-and-white pencil illustrations would be almost too somber for the vivid text, were it not for the realistic, snug detailsa wooden bucket for washing floors, a child's blanket, the cylindrical stove in the center of their home. Young readers may whet their appetites here and go on to the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.