Skip to main content

Dakota Dugout


Dakota Dugout

By Ann Turner & Illustrated by Ronald Himler

Summary: This book is a story about a mother who recounts here prairie days to her child. She tells of how her husband wrote to her to pack up everything and move out to the prairie where he was building a sod dugout for them to live in. She remembers how hard it was to live in that "house". Dirt floors, poor insolation, and lonely except for the animals and her husband, Matt. She talks about all of the seasons and the heartache and joy they each brought. She mentions that the first year they had a harvest, but then the sun scorched it and so they could not reap it. The harvest was much better the second year and they were able to sell their crops and buy dresses and buggies. With the extra money, they built a clapboard house with insolation, clean floors and bright, clean windows. She reflects that she didn't think that she would miss the Dakota dugout, but she did and thinks that, "Sometimes the things we start with are best".

Review: This is a hauntingly beautiful story from a woman who traveled to a Dakota Prairie and is reflecting on "the good old days". The illustrations in this book are all black and white and set the tone for this story. They like more like sketches and they portray the pain and heartache that a woman traveling west would have felt. The writing is almost poetic and contains many instances of the sounds that she experienced. This book makes for a more sobering read aloud and would make a great book for introducing the topic to the prairie days to a classroom. It could also be used to encourage gratefulness in everyday lives.

To order your own copy: https://www.amazon.com/Dakota-Dugout-Ann-Turner/dp/0689712960

 -The Green Eyed Reader
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tar Beach

Tar Beach Written & Illustrated Faith Ringgold Overview: This is a beautiful quilt story about a girl who lies on her "tar beach," her rooftop, with her family. She talks about how her father is a construction worker and looks for new work for lengthy amounts of time. The little girl decides that she is going to fly over the union building, the ice cream factory and a great bridge so that they will be hers forever. I believe that she means this in a figurative manner, in a sort of dream. She takes her little brother with her at the end and they fly with their eyes closed.  The paintings in this book have an unclean, but beautiful nature to them. This book provokes deep thinking and even has some historical events in it that would be great to explain to a classroom. 2nd graders would enjoy reading this book by themselves.   To order your own copy:  https://www.amazon.com/Tar-Beach-Faith-Ringgold/dp/0517885441/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=15120130...
1 comment
Read more

The War That Saved My Life

The War that Saved My Life  By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley  Summary:  This story follows the lives of a young brother and sister duo, Ada and Jamie Smith, during World War II. These siblings have grown up in the same house with their mother, who they call Mam, but with two very different lives. Jamie, a 7 year-old, is the youngest, and for the most part, has a normal life that includes going to school and playing with his friends around the block. Ada, on the other hand, who is 11 years-old, lives the life of a crippled and abused shut-in. This is in thanks to her Mam, who is embarrassed by the fact that she had a daughter with a club foot. Because of her foot, Ada cannot walk correctly and is not allowed to go outside of their London flat. However, that all changes when the Germans invade and their city is predicted to be bombed. For Ada and Jamie's safety, not only from the bombs, but also from Mam, they runaway with Jamie's local school to the countr...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit Written by Drew Daywalt & Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers Overview: One day in class, a little boy named Duncan took out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them. Each letter was written by one of his crayons. The red crayon, the pink crayon, the green crayon, and so on. Each crayon had written Duncan about he felt in regards to their overuse or underuse in his drawings or other issues that they felt needed to be addressed. When Duncan was finished reading all of the letters he tired to think of a way to appease all of his crayons and decided to draw and incredibly creative picture with all of his crayons. Duncan got an A+ on his drawing! This book takes a comical look at creativity from a crayon's perspective. This entertaining book can be read by 2nd graders and would make such fun read aloud for children.  Awards: 2014-2015 Bluebonnet Award To order your own copy:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-day...
Post a Comment
Read more