CM Magazine: Under a Prairie Sky.

________________ CM . . . . Volume IX Number 2 . . . . September 20, 2002

cover Under a Prairie Sky.
Anne Laurel Carter. Illustrated by Alan and Lea Daniel.
Victoria, BC: Orca, 2002.
32 pp., cloth, $19.95.
ISBN 1-55143-226-9.
Subject Headings:
Prairie Provinces-Juvenile fiction.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-8.

Review by Wayne Serebrin.

**** /4

exerpt:

One day, I'll be a Mountie,
patrol the land
where giants -
and little brothers -
sleep
under a prairie sky.

Will's younger brother has wandered away from the hard work of a farm family's harvest, and dark, storm clouds are looming in the late-afternoon, prairie sky. This is a dream opportunity for a wannabe Mountie. Will quickly transforms himself - changing into his red serge coat, Stetson hat, blue breeches and polished boots, and saddling up his black beauty Bess.

Writing in a lyrical style, former teacher Anne Laurel Carter uses detailed, descriptive language to take the reader on a horseback ride into the sights and sounds of the diverse, prairie landscape: through the "yellow stooks of drying wheat"; "down the coulee, to the valley where Saskatoon berries grow purple and sweet"; "beyond the dome of willow branches"; and, "across the wide open spaces" to where Will finds his little brother catching frogs in the slough. Now, the race is on. Can the boys make it back home in this wild storm? "Thundering outlaws shoot across the sky. Pow! Bolts of lightning fire at us, hail on our heels. Ping!" This is high drama. But, of course, a Mountie always gets his man and brings him back safely - it's all in the line of duty.

Award-winning illustrators Alan and Lea Daniel collaborate to beautifully represent and embellish the details of the story through their breath-taking, watercolour paintings. Large, realistic, brightly-coloured and earth-tone images at the beginning of the story, give way to harsh navy and violet tones that depict the drama of a prairie storm. Historical artifacts from the days "when the Mounties brought law and order to the frontier" are pictured in the side text panels, along with a range of flora and fauna from the living prairie.

This book is a virtual, prairie museum. While the story is rivetting on its own, the carefully researched text and illustrations provide the young reader with a rich and fascinating historical and geographical resource.

Highly Recommended.

Wayne Serebrin teaches Language and Literacy in the Faculty of Education, the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

NEXT REVIEW |TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE -September 20, 2002.