Prairie Winter

Late fall brings cold temperatures and occasional snows to the prairie, but the harshest part of the year is reserved for winter. Precipitation, in the form of snow, .
Table of contents

Late winter could lead to more Prairie oat acres Apr 13, Farm Living. Upper Plains, Midwest livestock sector braces for wintry blast Apr 13, Livestock. Farmers take rural crime fight online Apr 12, Farm Living. First Nation launches job training program with pork processor Apr 12, News.

5 Animals That Outsmart Winter

Cultural divide separates farmers, Indigenous workers Apr 12, News. With winter still hanging on across Western Canada, one buyer thinks it could lead to an uptick in oat acres. Ashley Robinson's recent articles Potato yields not expected to hit record again 4 days ago Pea market has more potential than lentils: Diesel prices could soar. Brazil court overturns earlier ban on glyphosate.

Large canola ending stocks expected.

It is a little bit inapropeate. Jan 07, Robert Beveridge rated it it was ok Shelves: Bonnie Geisert, Prairie Winter Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Despite being well above the target age for this book, and probably of the wrong sex as well, I can't say I'm entirely unfamiliar with girlhood fifties period pieces thanks recently to the Beany Malone books ; I do at least have some sort of footing on which to judge this against something that might be considered a peer. And yet the aggressive bucolicism of the Beany Malone books has nothing on Prairie Winter, Geisert's third nove Bonnie Geisert, Prairie Winter Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Despite being well above the target age for this book, and probably of the wrong sex as well, I can't say I'm entirely unfamiliar with girlhood fifties period pieces thanks recently to the Beany Malone books ; I do at least have some sort of footing on which to judge this against something that might be considered a peer.

And yet the aggressive bucolicism of the Beany Malone books has nothing on Prairie Winter, Geisert's third novel set in the fifties in North Dakota. In this one, Rachel and her sisters, who live well outside of town on the family farm, find themselves unable to go to school intermittently over the course of one winter thanks to old man weather, who keeps dumping snow on the town. I'd give you more of a plot synopsis, but this is a slice-of-life novel; there's not really much in the way of plot to be had.

'Very yo-yoish'

The jacket copy tries to create some tension here, but the events they use to do so are resolved long before the first half of the novel is over. Now, slice-of-life novels are not in any way a bad thing in and of themselves viz. Correctly written, they can be as gripping as the latest John Grisham thriller, but in order to get one like that, you have to rely entirely on the ability of the writer. While Geisert is a writer of some ability, she's handicapped here by two things.

The first is that she's not a writer of exceptional ability; this is not Joyce Carol Oates-level work.

The spring that hasn't sprung: Prairie cold snap could last through April

The second, and far more important, problem is that Geisert comes into this book with an agenda; rather than letting the story and its details give us a sense of atmosphere, Geisert wants to be aggressive about the prose here teaching the audience about life in the fifties in North Dakota. It's not as clumsy here as it is in the first thirty or forty pages of Brian Keene's novel Ghoul, where Keene recreates in the most embarrassing style possible, but it's still noticeable, and it detracts from what would have otherwise been a serviceable, if somewhat dull in the relation, story.

Apr 08, Lisa rated it liked it Shelves: This is a perfectly nice story about rural living in the s. I liked the voice of the narrator, year-old Rachel. I also liked her intelligence, hard work, and love for school. There's no gripping plot here; it's more a depiction of a family and a way of life.

He first chapter is a bit heavy-handed with Christian messages there's quite a bit about honoring fathers and mothers , but the overt Christian-ness doesn't extend any farther into the book. Family, honesty and hard work are importan This is a perfectly nice story about rural living in the s. Family, honesty and hard work are important throughout, but not in an "I wrote this book to teach you values" sort of way.

I enjoyed it, and although I personally don't feel compelled to read the rest of the series, I would happily recommend it to any 8- to year-old who seemed interested. I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference.

I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Houghton Mifflin! Oct 25, Tammy rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Even though this a book for children, I thought it was a great book.

Prairie Winter International 2012 Thursday Finals

It really gave some perspective of what children in those times went through. Kids these days would not know what to do if they had to live their lives remotely like that. I really made me stop and think I good I even have it. I would recommend this for adults too, not just children.

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You can see my complete review at: Dec 07, Zoe rated it it was ok. I wanted to like this book it's actually the third in a series, but it stands alone but I didn't. Having recently re-read "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book just didn't have the same spark and drama as the other. Mar 08, Mikayla rated it it was ok. I didn't finish it because it was so similar to 'Lessons'. Feb 25, Alyssa Soethout rated it it was amazing Shelves: Dec 02, Susan rated it it was amazing.

I read this for the Amazon vine program. I called it Little House style. A very enjoyable story about the winter in South Dakota, for older elementary students.

Prairie Winter by Bonnie Geisert

Apr 20, Chan Kah rated it really liked it. Emily rated it liked it May 24, Inside each of the coarse hairs on a pronghorn is a pocket of air; collectively these hollow hairs help the animal conserve body heat. Another strategy animals use to keep warm in the winter months is to simply go below ground.

Black-tailed prairie dogs, the most common and widespread of the five prairie dog species, typically do not hibernate. In the winter months they live off of their body fat and will also forage for roots. If the climate is extreme, like that found in the Canadian prairies in winter, then prairie dogs can and will hibernate. Dry conditions can force prairie dogs into hibernation, which recently happened in Kansas during a particularly dry fall and winter.

In that case the prairie dogs were unable to build up sufficient fat reserves to make it through the winter. One of the heartiest animals on the prairie is the bison. They use their large and powerful heads to brush away deep snows to reach the good grass buried beneath. Socially, they are split into two groups: Bison are quite active in winter and consistently keep moving despite the weather. Other animals, such as deer, will bed down during a snowstorm to conserve heat.