One Day in the Prairie

This book has some of the most beautiful pencil drawings I've seen in a children's book. While the story isn't overly enthralling, he does a great job of describing the animals and plants in detail to help the reader learn about each one and to really imagine they are there on the prairie. We will be using this book as a resource to study prairie life.

I have its companion books "One Day in the Tropical Rainforest", "One Day in the Woods", and "One Day in the Desert". I was very excited to get this one. I use them all in my third grade class room. The children find them an interesting and exciting way to learn about different types of land.

Here is another entry in nature writer Jean Craighead George's fantastic ONE DAY series. This one, unlike the other books in the series--ONE DAY IN THE. . .WOODS, ALPINE TUNDRA, DESERT, and TROPICAL RAIN FOREST--is written more dramatically in the present, and is a very satisfying introduction to the lively environment of the United States prairie. Henry Rush, a young photographer, gets to spend one day on the prairie to take a picture of a prairie dog doing a backflip. These comical little critters provide humor, while the buffalo of a nearby herd seem wise and noble. Suddenly, disaster strikes. A tornado is headed for the prairie, and Henry, the buffalo, the prairie dogs, and countless other creatures are in its path. The result is thrilling and tense. The illustrator's amazingly realistic drawings add to the excitement. This is a fine story about a lively environment from the author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, HOW TO TALK TO YOUR DOG, and many, many more superb books about the environment.