Prairie Summer

by Nancy Hundal

Sometimes prose can be so beautifully simple that the choice of single words evokes endless images. So it is with "Prairie Summer, " a poetic text that describes the mood of a prairie summer while gently reminding the reader that new experiences can be carried with us in memory forever." syndicated column, Books to Borrow, Books to Buy, Toler Media Services

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry

Paperback

First published July 12, 1999

About the author

Nancy is the author of ten picture books and two novels, one middle grade and one YA. Her focus as a writer is on using evocative language to create a powerful atmosphere in each book. Her style of writing has been referred to as poetic prose, and her books are often used in the classroom as pattern books for student writers.

She lives in Vancouver, where she divides her time between her family and friends, and her other family and friends, writing and reading. She is a retired teacher-librarian

-Information courtesy of Children's Writers and Illustratrs of British Columbia website, http://www.cwill.bc.ca/

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic, ecstatic and evocative, Nancy Hundal's words, her free flowing lyricism imaginatively, magically, glowingly but at the same time very much realistically demonstrates the joys, the delights, the multifaceted nuances of a summer (or more to the point, of a yearly summer vacation) on the Canadian prairies (in all likelihood Saskatchewan, but Southern Alberta and Southern Manitoba have equally grand vistas and similar scenarios), with gophers, grain elevators, mosquitoes, not only the sights but also the many sounds of Western Canadian farming life during the months of June, July, August and parts of September (from the hum of tractors to the often all encompassing drone of swarms of grasshoppers). Accompanied by Brian Deines' orange and brown hued illustrations, which do so totally colour wise capture the very essence of the season, of both time of year and geographic place, Prairie Summer presents a brilliant, emotive and absolutely delightful marriage of text and image, a both visual and narrational (poetic) celebration of the Canadian prairies in picture book format, a paean to summer, to the prairie's wide open spaces, to big skies and awe-inspiring grandeur, although I do have to wonder a bit that while Nancy Hundal depicts the majesty and giganticness of prairie winds, summertime prairie thunderstorms with their both awesome and frightening power and possibility for destruction have seemingly been ignored (and of course, while Prairie Summer is about Canada, Nancy Hundal's verses and Brian Deines' artwork could equally be describing the US Mid-West and states such as the Dakotas or Kansas).

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a mouthful. I love it. I'm not sure that most audiences would comprehend just how incredible this text is. It takes a while to really understand the overwhelming amount of literary devices that can be found in every single page. I'm impressed, just stunned by the depth of language she was able to fit in there. Hundal is in a class of her own.

[Shiloah · Rating 2 out of 5]

My kids were not interested. It wasn’t a story, merely a long poem about prairie summers. The illustrations weren’t all that either. Not a good read-aloud. The poem as an adult read would be lovely.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed on openlibrary.org. Poetic, a bit melancholy, no narration, no characters really... is this for children, or nostalgic adults?