If These Places Could Talk: Snapshots of Saskatchewan

The poem reproduced in the “Excerpt” above acts as an introduction to If These Places Could Talk: Snapshots of Saskatchewan, and it leads into the sections titled: “Saskatchewan Stories”, “Places of Hunt and Harvest”, “Places of Industry”, “Places of Religion”, “Places of Government”, “Places of Learning”, “Places of Conflict and Peace”, “Places of Business”, “Places We Call Home”, “Places to Gather”, “Places Then and Now”, and finally “Places of Record”. Each section, which is 2 to 4 pages in length, continues with the poem to introduce that section. Each of the sections also includes 4 to 8 photographs from the archives, museums, libraries and private collections and sometimes drawings which are then explained. In total, If These Places Could Talk: Snapshots of Saskatchewan has some 94 photographs and drawings in total which add to the enjoyment and usefulness of the text. At the end of the book, the location of the 94 photographs is shown on a map of Saskatchewan. Several other websites, such as the Saskatchewan Register of Heritage Property, The Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists, and Canada’s Historic Places, are listed in the references. There is an additional reference to a teacher’s guide at www.sasksnapshots.ca, but, at this time this review was written, the guide was unavailable online.

If These Places Could Talk: Snapshots of Saskatchewan is an excellent book about Saskatchewan that is presented in an interesting and readable format. Crista Bradley, in the “Preface”, states. “I have included contemporary images and artistic renderings of certain places to help the book be more reflective of the people who are part of the Saskatchewan story.”