Prairie School Paperback – December 27, 2011

I love the story line and art work.

I enjoyed the book very much. So much different to live in those times compared to today. Nice to not have all the crime and violence also.

Lois Lenski's books were relatively new when I was a schoolgirl, and I have fond memories of an endless stream of interesting stories set in different American locales, all with charming, detailed illustrations. One of the distinctive qualities of Lenski's books -- something I noticed as a child but see more clearly now -- is the honesty with which she depicts poverty and inequality. Many of the families in her books are barely surviving, and the gulf between these families and those just a bit better off is striking.In "Prairie School," a somewhat uneven and episodic story, another kind of poverty is in evidence -- poverty of spirit. Lenski is to be commended for not idealizing the peasant family of the protagonist, Delores. Frankly, Delores's father is an incompetent, brutish blowhard. He's a bully, and he is teaching his sons -- even the baby -- to be bullies as well. Delores's mother is hard-working but oppressed, powerless, and often overwhelmed. The heroic teacher, Miss Martin, seems to be aware of the family situation, and advises Delores at the very end of the book to find a wider world that will nurture her generous spirit instead of stifling it.This book is reminiscent of Wilder's "The Long Winter," though it emphasizes the value of cooperation rather than the paranoid self-reliance of Wilder's world. It is also reminiscent of Cather's "My Antonia," with its look into the lives of uneducated immigrants who are floundering in the New World, and the challenges faced by a girl growing up in this stunted environment. For a contrasting historical story for readers on the same level, see Taylor's "All of a Kind Family" series, in which the family, though poor, values reading and creativity.

I love Lois Lenski's writing and illustrations. This book was no exception. It's one of her regional books describing a very harsh winter for a group of kids who attended a prairie school back in the early 1950's. It reminded me a little of Laura Ingalls Wilder' s book The Long Winter, but a little more harsh if you can even imagine that thought.This is the type of book that makes me ever so thankful for modern conveniences.

:D

Excellent reading for school kids, part of our past they should learn, how people helped each other and lived in tough times.Lois Lenski actually lived with these families and wrote about them in most of her books.

Christmas present for granddaughter

I have been a fan of Lois Lenski ever since I was a child--she hailed from my home town do Springfield, Ohio. This story of the great blizzard is a. I I'd memory for me--there were newsreels of Army planes dropping hay for the cattle marooned in the storm. Her storytelling is simple, vivid and realistic. This was a hallmark of all her stories about children all over the country--often in poor circumstances. Very relevant today.