Prairie Friends

by Nancy Smiler Levinson, Stacey Schuett (Illustrations)

Betsy loves the prairie, but it is a lonely place. When a family moves nearby, Betsy can't wait to make friends with the new girl, Emmeline. But Emmeline misses the city. Can Betsy help her learn to love her new home? Ages 2 – 4

Genres: Historical Fiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Nancy Smiler Levinson was born in 1938 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, she worked as a reporter, researcher, editor, and Head Start teacher before taking time to raise her two children. It was while reading to her kids when they were toddlers that Levinson first became interested in writing for young people, and in 1981 she published her first novel for young readers, World of Her Own. The first of many critically acclaimed biographies came in 1981, and since then Levinson has written a variety of well-received fiction and nonfiction for beginning readers as well as middle grade and young adult audiences.

Levinson has also contributed articles and stories to such publications as Seventeen magazine, Highlights for Children, Library Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. She has been a tutor for disabled children. She lives in California, where she enjoys reading and attending theater and symphonies.

Reviews

[Pink Leaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for my developing reader!

[Kristina Befort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Reaction: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the simple writing, the vivid illustrations, and I also liked the theme of friendship in this book. I think all of these elements would make this a great story for a second, third, or even fourth grade transitional reader.

Use in the Classroom:
Curricular Connection: This book definitely reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie books, as it tells the story of friendship wile living on the prairie in the 1800s. I think this would be a great book to tie into a history lesson. In the state of Kansas, there is a lot of focus placed on Kansas history, and I think this book would be excellent to tie into that. This book tells a very fun and entertaining story, while also describing life on the prairie during this time. This book would present another side of history to the students.

Independent Reading: I think this would be a great book for independent reading. It has five chapters in it, so it would be a great introductory chapter book. I also found the sentences and the dialogue to be very simple, so the students would be able to understand the language of the book without needing too much assistance with reading. Also, any words that they may struggle with would be definable simply by looking that the illustrations. Since this book is a little longer, I would save it for my more advanced transitional readers that are on their way to full on chapter books.

Narrative: I think I would use this book to teach theme to my students. The overall theme of this book is definitely friendship, and I could ask my students why they think the theme is friendship. I think I could also use this book to teach setting, as the story would be altered if it took place in a different time. This would be an excellent book to emphasize the fact that setting is both where a story takes place, as well as when a story takes place.

[Halee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is OK. Definitely a historical fiction because of the time, setting, and activities the children engaged in. It was about a girl who becomes really good friends with her neighbor's daughter. They picked berries together, amde dolls, and played tag. The most dominant theme throughout the book was the fact that the neighbors were from the city so helping them to adapt to the prairie life was a bit tough, but in the end, they really liked it. It would not be my first pick, but I had to read it for my Historical Fiction genre project so it definitely fit that criteria. Other than that, if you are looking for a modern book, this is not the one. If you're looking to compare and contrast today versus back then, this is perfect.I would recommend this book for preschool/kindergarten age students.

[Kassandra]

This book is set in a time period between the late 1870's or 1880's, where many families where migrating west, this time period of American history is labeled as the Westward Expansion. This book is about a girl named Betsy who lives on a wide Nebraska prairie with her family. They do not have many close neighbors so Betsy has no friends to play with. Betsy wishes she had a friend she could visit close by. A new family moves in and they have a daughter named Emmeline, who was born and raised in the city, she has a hard time adjusting to the “prairie life”. Betsy introduces her to her favorite activities like berry picking and they become best friends. This is a great book for girls but also boys that enjoy learning about different time periods. It can also be used to teach about friendships or in a history unit.

[Kassandra]

This book is set in a time period between the late 1870's or 1880's, where many families where migrating west, this time period of American history is labeled as the Westward Expansion. This book is about a girl named Betsy who lives on a wide Nebraska prairie with her family. They do not have many close neighbors so Betsy has no friends to play with. Betsy wishes she had a friend she could visit close by. A new family moves in and they have a daughter named Emmeline, who was born and raised in the city, she has a hard time adjusting to the “prairie life”. Betsy introduces her to her favorite activities like berry picking and they become best friends. This book can be used in a history unit but also to teach about friendship.

[Jerusha Sheffer]

This is a nice reader for Karis

[Edward Creter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two girls live and play in the old American prairie, making dools out f corn husks and playing tag. Cute...but dull.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love stories like these....gives a chance to talk about history. It reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilders' books which I loved as a girl.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really dislike the pictures. Story is kind of generic boring.