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American Regional
Prairie School
Prairie School
196 pages
First published January 1, 1951
51 people are currently reading
591 people want to read
About the author
Lois Lenski
180 books196 followershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lenski
Many of Lenski's books can be collated into 'series' - but since they don't have to be read in order, you may be better off just looking for more information here: http://library.illinoisstate.edu/uniq...
Probably her most famous set is the following:
American Regional Series
Beginning with Bayou Suzette in 1943, Lois Lenski began writing a series of books which would become known as her "regional series." In the early 1940s Lenski, who suffered from periodic bouts of ill-health, was told by her doctor that she needed to spend the winter months in a warmer climate than her Connecticut home. As a result, Lenski and her husband Arthur Covey traveled south each fall. Lenski wrote in her autobiography, "On my trips south I saw the real America for the first time. I saw and learned what the word region meant as I witnessed firsthand different ways of life unlike my own. What interested me most was the way children were living" (183).
In Journey Into Childhood, Lenski wrote that she was struck by the fact that there were "plenty of books that tell how children live in Alaska, Holland, China, and Mexico, but no books at all telling about the many ways children live here in the United States"
Bayou Suzette.
Strawberry Girl.
Blue Ridge Billy.
Judy's Journey.
Boom Town Boy.
Cotton in My Sack.
Texas Tomboy.
Prairie School.
Corn-Farm Boy.
San Francisco Boy.
Flood Friday.
Houseboat Girl.
Coal Camp Girl.
Shoo-Fly Girl.
To Be a Logger.
Deer Valley Girl.
Many of Lenski's books can be collated into 'series' - but since they don't have to be read in order, you may be better off just looking for more information here: http://library.illinoisstate.edu/uniq...
Probably her most famous set is the following:
American Regional Series
Beginning with Bayou Suzette in 1943, Lois Lenski began writing a series of books which would become known as her "regional series." In the early 1940s Lenski, who suffered from periodic bouts of ill-health, was told by her doctor that she needed to spend the winter months in a warmer climate than her Connecticut home. As a result, Lenski and her husband Arthur Covey traveled south each fall. Lenski wrote in her autobiography, "On my trips south I saw the real America for the first time. I saw and learned what the word region meant as I witnessed firsthand different ways of life unlike my own. What interested me most was the way children were living" (183).
In Journey Into Childhood, Lenski wrote that she was struck by the fact that there were "plenty of books that tell how children live in Alaska, Holland, China, and Mexico, but no books at all telling about the many ways children live here in the United States"
Bayou Suzette.
Strawberry Girl.
Blue Ridge Billy.
Judy's Journey.
Boom Town Boy.
Cotton in My Sack.
Texas Tomboy.
Prairie School.
Corn-Farm Boy.
San Francisco Boy.
Flood Friday.
Houseboat Girl.
Coal Camp Girl.
Shoo-Fly Girl.
To Be a Logger.
Deer Valley Girl.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 23, 2019
This story is based on a real life snowstorm in the 1950's. In rural area of Nebraska two children and their teacher get snowed up in the school house. There were some nice details of family life, the different foods families ate and day to day life that seems like much further back in time than 70 years ago. The pencil illustrations were nice, very 50's and set the scene well. I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected. I think this would work well as a read aloud to younger children than I have, probably the under 10 or 11 yr olds would enjoy this look at a very different life. I liked the inclusion of some sheet music of a prarie school song and I'm looking forward to hearing it.
Read on open library
Read on open library
October 16, 2012
Sometimes a kids' book is not just a kids' book. I last read Prairie School by Lois Lenski almost 60 years ago. It was 1954 and I was a Grade 2 kid in a one-room prairie school that my father had last attended some 20 years before. The book came in a box of books from the school board office which had to be read and returned within the month. I never forgot the book. My kids found it on E-Bay for me for Christmas one year not long ago, 1951 hardcover, exactly as I remembered it, and I read it again just now.
In the Foreword, Lois Lenski explains that in May 1948 she received a letter from Maple Leaf School, a "one-room rural school in South Dakota, just west of the Missouri River and near the North Dakota state line". The pupils wrote to tell her how much they liked Strawberry Girl which the teacher read to them when it was cold and they gathered around the large floor register over the furnace to keep warm. Ms. Lenski received other letters from the students of Maple Leaf School in school year 1949-50, describing the terrible winter and their life on the Dakota plains.
She determined to write their story and in spite of delays of snow storms into May, she made the trip, met the students and their families, observed during class, slept in the teacherage. Prairie School is a composite of their stories. Maple Leaf School became the model for "Oak Leaf School". The community was mainly German-Russians from the Odessa region of what is now Ukraine who settled there in the early 1900s. Their language and customs are captured by Lois Lenski's dialogue and also her wonderful pencil sketches.
Eleven kids, ages 6 to 13, from six families came on horseback, horse-drawn cart or walked in summer and winter. Farm work interrupted school work for the older boys. The winter of 49-50 was long and hard; the Christmas Concert was cut short because of weather; school was closed often due to weather and once the children were caught and had to stay at the school. Spring was late but never-the-less arrived and the meadowlarks sang. The book ends (for me) with sadness and a feeling as empty as the school. Oak Leaf School (and Maple Leaf School) closed at the end of the year and the kids were bused to town in the fall. As Miss Martin, the teacher, said "You must grow up and go on to better things".
Ten years later, the one-room rural schools were closed in our school district (which, by the way, was mainly German-Russians from the Volga who came to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s) and the kids bused to town. I was in Grade 8 by then. Prairie School described a piece of my own childhood and reading it was like a trip back in time.
Sometimes a kids' book is not just a kids' book. Sometimes it is a reminder of how life was. Anyone who did not grow up on the prairies and who did not go to a one-room school will find the book interesting, even though it is intended for "8 to 12 year olds", but not nearly as meaningful as for those of us who shared the experiences.
In the Foreword, Lois Lenski explains that in May 1948 she received a letter from Maple Leaf School, a "one-room rural school in South Dakota, just west of the Missouri River and near the North Dakota state line". The pupils wrote to tell her how much they liked Strawberry Girl which the teacher read to them when it was cold and they gathered around the large floor register over the furnace to keep warm. Ms. Lenski received other letters from the students of Maple Leaf School in school year 1949-50, describing the terrible winter and their life on the Dakota plains.
She determined to write their story and in spite of delays of snow storms into May, she made the trip, met the students and their families, observed during class, slept in the teacherage. Prairie School is a composite of their stories. Maple Leaf School became the model for "Oak Leaf School". The community was mainly German-Russians from the Odessa region of what is now Ukraine who settled there in the early 1900s. Their language and customs are captured by Lois Lenski's dialogue and also her wonderful pencil sketches.
Eleven kids, ages 6 to 13, from six families came on horseback, horse-drawn cart or walked in summer and winter. Farm work interrupted school work for the older boys. The winter of 49-50 was long and hard; the Christmas Concert was cut short because of weather; school was closed often due to weather and once the children were caught and had to stay at the school. Spring was late but never-the-less arrived and the meadowlarks sang. The book ends (for me) with sadness and a feeling as empty as the school. Oak Leaf School (and Maple Leaf School) closed at the end of the year and the kids were bused to town in the fall. As Miss Martin, the teacher, said "You must grow up and go on to better things".
Ten years later, the one-room rural schools were closed in our school district (which, by the way, was mainly German-Russians from the Volga who came to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s) and the kids bused to town. I was in Grade 8 by then. Prairie School described a piece of my own childhood and reading it was like a trip back in time.
Sometimes a kids' book is not just a kids' book. Sometimes it is a reminder of how life was. Anyone who did not grow up on the prairies and who did not go to a one-room school will find the book interesting, even though it is intended for "8 to 12 year olds", but not nearly as meaningful as for those of us who shared the experiences.
April 16, 2011
I am a sucker for winter survival stories. I liked this one because it took place in the same general area as Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter, but many years later. As the characters in this book refer to previous hard winters, I was constantly reminded of the one the Ingalls family lived through. This time, they had cars and plenty of food and coal for the stoves. But some of the children are forced to stay at school for a few days during a blizzard, because it can still be too dangerous to wander around outside.
I also liked the fact that the author based this book on a real prairie school, the teacher of which she had been in touch with. The students also wrote her letters, and she visited the area as well for research.
I also liked the fact that the author based this book on a real prairie school, the teacher of which she had been in touch with. The students also wrote her letters, and she visited the area as well for research.
June 30, 2017
Based on a true story, this Lenski American regional tells the story of a group of school children and their teacher who experience the worst snowstorm in South Dakota in fifty years. The teacher and children were ever so brave while many of the other adults (the children's parents) frustrated me to no end. The details of the snow storm are a bit stressful to read about but as with the other Lenski regionals, you get all the raw details-- very realistic.
December 29, 2017
On the South Dakota prairie, Delores and Darrell and the other kids who attend their schoolhouse are used to braving rough weather conditions during the winter months. When a record-breaking blizzard hits, however, and Delores and Darrell become stranded at the schoolhouse with their teacher Miss Martin, they may not be quite prepared for the unusual difficulties they will face before the storm ends.
Prairie School is part survival story, part educational text about the lives of prairie farmers in the late 1940s. Though the characters are fairly well-described and have individual personalities, the setting itself is really the main character of the book. Through the eyes of Delores and Darrell, the reader experiences the daily and yearly rhythms of farm life, with its associated difficulties and dangers. There are lots of great details about kids walking miles to and from school in the snow, helping to round up wayward cattle, recognizing signs of bad weather, worrying about whether the schoolhouse has enough coal, and generally experiencing a much less sheltered way of life than exists today. The characters are appealing, but it is the way they live that drives the story and makes it so interesting.
The illustrations by the author are just as well-done as the text. They are charming pictures, depicting in detail key scenes from the story and showing how the characters dress and what their school and homes look like. Though there are only two or three illustrations per chapter, some of them occupy full pages, and they really help develop the visual elements of a time and place most readers can only imagine.
Prairie School may not be as distinctive and memorable as Strawberry Girl, Lenski's Newbery winning title, but it was an engaging and quick read in its own right. I am always fascinated by stories involving schoolhouse so that was an enjoyable aspect for me, as was the suspense at the height of the story when Delores's health is in danger and it is unclear how she will receive treatment. Reading this book has made me want to explore Lenski's other regional stories -if they're all as good as this one, I have many treats in store in the coming months!
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Prairie School is part survival story, part educational text about the lives of prairie farmers in the late 1940s. Though the characters are fairly well-described and have individual personalities, the setting itself is really the main character of the book. Through the eyes of Delores and Darrell, the reader experiences the daily and yearly rhythms of farm life, with its associated difficulties and dangers. There are lots of great details about kids walking miles to and from school in the snow, helping to round up wayward cattle, recognizing signs of bad weather, worrying about whether the schoolhouse has enough coal, and generally experiencing a much less sheltered way of life than exists today. The characters are appealing, but it is the way they live that drives the story and makes it so interesting.
The illustrations by the author are just as well-done as the text. They are charming pictures, depicting in detail key scenes from the story and showing how the characters dress and what their school and homes look like. Though there are only two or three illustrations per chapter, some of them occupy full pages, and they really help develop the visual elements of a time and place most readers can only imagine.
Prairie School may not be as distinctive and memorable as Strawberry Girl, Lenski's Newbery winning title, but it was an engaging and quick read in its own right. I am always fascinated by stories involving schoolhouse so that was an enjoyable aspect for me, as was the suspense at the height of the story when Delores's health is in danger and it is unclear how she will receive treatment. Reading this book has made me want to explore Lenski's other regional stories -if they're all as good as this one, I have many treats in store in the coming months!
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
December 21, 2018
I've got to stop reading Lenski's books. I don't know why I do this to myself. I keep hoping I'll find a happy family unit, only to discover that Lenski can only write grumpy, depressing families. Well, they say "write what you know"--maybe she did. Funny though, that no matter what region she writes about, everyone is always so down, especially the parents. Dolores' mom is depressed--she cries and has anxiety attacks all the time (and no wonder, as she never seems to leave the house); the dad is always "too busy" to do what he doesn't want to do, saying there's "plenty of time for that" and of course it never gets done. The kids are expected to take up the slack. Then there's whiny Ruby, the classmate nobody likes. The plot was kind of a retelling of The Long Winter--maybe Lenski was going for a Nellie Oleson character.
Published in 1951, it feels set much earlier, like maybe the 1930s. I was raised in the Midwest myself, as was the author. Her Dakota farmers sound much more primitive than expected for the time it was set in. No electricity? Hm. I wonder. Doesn't sound right to me. Half of them seem to talk Pennsylvania Dutch, as well. One of my oldest friends is from S. Dakota and the idiom doesn't fit. And how could people born and raised in S. Dakota in such primitive conditions not know about melting snow to get water? We certainly did, in the sixties. I have also had appendicitis which required emergency surgery, and it does not start with a sore throat and a cough. I wonder if Lenski thought first of pneumonia (given the whole getting-lost-in-a-blizzard-on-horseback thing) and changed her mind halfway through? We're also given the impression that the kids are stuck in the schoolhouse for several days (though to me the reader it felt like weeks) and then suddenly, oh no, it's only been two nights.
Altogether, another unsuccessful attempt. That's why I can't, in good conscience, shelve this as "social realism." A very shaky two stars.
Published in 1951, it feels set much earlier, like maybe the 1930s. I was raised in the Midwest myself, as was the author. Her Dakota farmers sound much more primitive than expected for the time it was set in. No electricity? Hm. I wonder. Doesn't sound right to me. Half of them seem to talk Pennsylvania Dutch, as well. One of my oldest friends is from S. Dakota and the idiom doesn't fit. And how could people born and raised in S. Dakota in such primitive conditions not know about melting snow to get water? We certainly did, in the sixties. I have also had appendicitis which required emergency surgery, and it does not start with a sore throat and a cough. I wonder if Lenski thought first of pneumonia (given the whole getting-lost-in-a-blizzard-on-horseback thing) and changed her mind halfway through? We're also given the impression that the kids are stuck in the schoolhouse for several days (though to me the reader it felt like weeks) and then suddenly, oh no, it's only been two nights.
Altogether, another unsuccessful attempt. That's why I can't, in good conscience, shelve this as "social realism." A very shaky two stars.
April 23, 2018
3.5 stars. Although loosely based on a real winter in South Dakota, a winter that was exceptionally cold and snowy, disaster is piled upon disaster, all happening to the same family, which seems somewhat unlikely. Children, however, are likely to be less critical, and will most likely enjoy the exciting adventures. But I can't help wondering why a German-American family would name children Darrell and Delores!
July 14, 2024
This book was read aloud as a family. It’s a story that was based on true events in 1950’s. A blizzard that affects an entire small ND town. All the chaos that ensued and how the town rallied and overcame. Specially my kids were most interested in the stories of Delores and her family. What a historical and literary gem.
*Note: This book was given to me by a dear friend.
*Note: This book was given to me by a dear friend.
January 13, 2017
If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:
✱ The Children's Blizzard
✱ The Long Winter
✱ The Children's Blizzard
✱ The Long Winter
September 21, 2024
This was much better than Strawberry Girl. Not perfect (the joke about having a minstrel show when the stovepipe falls and gets coal everywhere made me cringe, and occasionally the comments about Native Americans felt a little insensitive) but this was not a bad book at all. I especially appreciated it when the narration got a little dark and existential.
June 16, 2025
Lovely book.
April 27, 2020
This book was all crazy action, and often I had difficulty following who was doing what, and for what reason, and how much time had passed. The ending seemed disjointed, as though the author got tired of writing and tried to cram it all into a couple of chapters.
2.5 stars
The book depicts the difficulties that prairie families faced, but in a non-believable way. I'm sure the age group this was written for would enjoy the drama.
2.5 stars
The book depicts the difficulties that prairie families faced, but in a non-believable way. I'm sure the age group this was written for would enjoy the drama.
March 21, 2022
My life is currently consumed by missions conference, practicing piano for my sister's wedding, and homeschooling, so my mind keeps wandering back over books I've recently finished but didn't get the chance to review because my calendar is full... 🙃
The neatest thing about how Lenski worked, was that she actually went ON SITE to the places she wrote about. She stayed with families of children that would write to her and suggest their rural areas or life for her next books, and based her books off of THEIR stories and lives. For this book, she actually spent time in a prairie one room schoolhouse, living and sleeping there as she worked on notes and sketches for the book. Maybe I just really think that's a super neat factor in today's world where most writers just Google everything, instead of going to the place and breathing in the actual landscape, so to speak.
I love how Delores' family is portrayed, a generation of original pioneers that went to the Dakota's to farm the land. The way they speak and the traditions they kept was very real feeling. And the blizzards are very much like the horrible ones that the Ingalls family lives through in "The Long Winter"! Even though this book is set in the 40's, and there is 'modern' technology, we find that machines don't often work as they should in inclement weather, and the dark feelings that long winters can bring to us are portrayed very realistically.
I'm looking forward to continuing reading more by Lenski this year. She was certainly a very unique woman!!!
The neatest thing about how Lenski worked, was that she actually went ON SITE to the places she wrote about. She stayed with families of children that would write to her and suggest their rural areas or life for her next books, and based her books off of THEIR stories and lives. For this book, she actually spent time in a prairie one room schoolhouse, living and sleeping there as she worked on notes and sketches for the book. Maybe I just really think that's a super neat factor in today's world where most writers just Google everything, instead of going to the place and breathing in the actual landscape, so to speak.
I love how Delores' family is portrayed, a generation of original pioneers that went to the Dakota's to farm the land. The way they speak and the traditions they kept was very real feeling. And the blizzards are very much like the horrible ones that the Ingalls family lives through in "The Long Winter"! Even though this book is set in the 40's, and there is 'modern' technology, we find that machines don't often work as they should in inclement weather, and the dark feelings that long winters can bring to us are portrayed very realistically.
I'm looking forward to continuing reading more by Lenski this year. She was certainly a very unique woman!!!
June 18, 2021
Set in South Dakota during the worst winter "in 50 years" this is part of Lenski's American Regional series about children in different parts of the country in the 1930s to early 50s. Based on one of the worst ever winter storms in SD in 1949 which included up to 60” of snow, winds of 70mph and below zero temperatures. This was especially difficult for the prairie farmers living far from town and whose children attended one-room prairie schools. An emotional look at family life during the emergency.
September 25, 2024
Captures a sliver of history now past. Not the authors best book, but a sweet story nonetheless. The forward written by the author explains the events leading up to writing this book and the research she put in, which makes it more compelling knowing she was writing lived experiences. As other reviewers have said, it’s a bit of an update on prairie life from the first pioneers to the advent of modernity. Times have changed so much in the now 70 years since this was written and when I read the final line I felt almost sadness that these simple people and places are forever gone.
June 8, 2018
Published in 1951, the author wrote a story for and about the children that had read her book "Strawberry Girl" while surviving one of the roughest winters on record. This was a compilation of many stories about that time and turned into fiction Good images that give us an idea of what life was like for those students, teachers and families at that time.
July 28, 2019
I almost certainly read this a child, and decided to revisit. It’s just okay, really. Too many dramatic things pile up all at once to really feel realistic. There is also some casual racism (mostly throwaway lines) that I certainly wouldn’t have picked up on then. I do love Lenski’s illustrations, as always, and may have to spend some time poring over those.
September 23, 2021
This was a great book for me as my sister was born in 1949 in N. D. And our mom went to the hospital 2 weeks early to be sure she could make it to the hospital from the farm where she lived. I loved that it was based on true events and author had drawn pictures from real life. The snow storms in the Dakotas could really be amazing and people living there needed to be very hardy.
April 20, 2022
I really enjoyed this look at the life of children in the Dakotas in the 1950s. Lenski is really good at capturing the ordinary bits of everyday life and presenting them in an interesting way. I love that she also illustrated her books.
January 10, 2019
I found this a little tough to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
May 10, 2021
I have read other perspectives of this terrible time. Lenski does a great job of viewing the event from the children's perspective.
July 22, 2021
These books are just wonderful, I love every one of them.
October 14, 2022
A delightful tale taking place in the early 1950’s.
Illustrations charming and depict life on the prairie in South Dakota.
Written for children it exposes a way of life unfamiliar to many.
Illustrations charming and depict life on the prairie in South Dakota.
Written for children it exposes a way of life unfamiliar to many.
October 17, 2022
It was interesting for the educational aspects. It had a lot of language to edit out for reading aloud.
November 30, 2023
Good read
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.
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.
July 19, 2024
A true story of the blizzard of 1949 is a national treasure! Miss Martin is the beloved teacher who is the hero of the story! A must-read!
January 4, 2012
Prairie School is the eighth novel, for readers 8-12 years old, in Lois Lenski's "American Regional Series." It is a standout. Set in South Dakota, it tells of a one-room school in the Great Plains during one of the worst winters in recorded history as of 1950.
Blizzard after blizzard hits the area, temperatures are well below zero and most mechanical devices are shut down. Students can only get to school by walking or horseback and some afternoons they can't get home again. But they come to school almost every day.
Delores and Darrell are children of a cattle ranching family. Darrell is worried about their cattle and torn between keeping them from freezing and going to school. Their father is so busy dealing with his ranch and helping his friends that he forgets to bring coal for both their home and the school. When Delores gets seriously ill while staying overnight with the teacher, the drama is intense.
The non-stop action, the very real dangers and the courage of the kids all make this an exciting read. Miss Martin is the brave and resourceful school teacher who saves Delores' life. I was reminded again of how easy and relatively uneventful life is for most modern American kids. These prairie children are tough!
Prairie School would make a great winter read for both boys and girls. It is truly a shame that these books are out of print, but they can be found in libraries.
February 3, 2012
I remembered this book from the cover.
Once I read the description and some other reviews, I knew that I had read it. Thinking on it, I think I owned a copy of this book. When I sort of relax my mind and barely think about the cover, I have the vaguest memory of a bookstore in a mall, probably the Waldenbooks in the Acadiana Mall.
I recall that this story was way more exciting than Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter. When the girl in this story is sick..., let's just say it's fingernail gnawing high tension. Or at least that's the way I remember it.
I had forgotten about this book until I found it on the What's The Name of That Book??? group's bookshelf.
Once I read the description and some other reviews, I knew that I had read it. Thinking on it, I think I owned a copy of this book. When I sort of relax my mind and barely think about the cover, I have the vaguest memory of a bookstore in a mall, probably the Waldenbooks in the Acadiana Mall.
I recall that this story was way more exciting than Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter. When the girl in this story is sick..., let's just say it's fingernail gnawing high tension. Or at least that's the way I remember it.
I had forgotten about this book until I found it on the What's The Name of That Book??? group's bookshelf.
Read
March 15, 2011We read this book together (the kids and I) and we all liked it. It talks of a tiny little school on the Dakota border and how they dealt with the worst winter in 50 years. As always, Ms. Lenski's illustrations are charming and the stories are of real situations, if not real people. We learned a lot about how people lived back then and the hardships they faced. I have become an advocate for her books. Very good material.
July 31, 2012
The girls and I enjoyed this as our read aloud. Charming illustrations and great story line about life in South Dakota. I love Lois Lenski's Regional America books for that reason - that they portray the life of children in more obscure places in the U.S. in a realistic, easily accessible way. We took a rabbit trail and re-read The Big Winter, as well as studied Mt. Rushmore and the Sioux Indians. Wonderful book, and series, for children!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews