The School Bus Doesn't Stop Here Anymore: Life and Times on a Rural Route

Nora D.S. Robins is liaison librarian, University of Calgary Information
Resources.

Noreen Olson has been writing a biweekly column for The Didsbury Review
for more than 20 years. As a mother, grandmother, full-time farmer, and
active member of the Alberta Women’s Institute, her activities provide
great fodder for her columns. She has the wonderful ability to take
everyday occurrences and turn them into vignettes coloured by her kind,
and always humorous, view of life.

The titles of her tales tell it all: “Driving Lessons,” “Hub Deep
in Mud,” “A Surfeit of Eggs,” “Don’t Make Friends with the
Food,” “Rebel Without a Costume,” and my favourite, “Kitchen
Archaeology.” The reader will be surprised to discover just how much
fun (often unanticipated) life on a farm can be when viewed by so
perceptive an author. The book contains 80 rib-tickling tales that leave
the reader wanting a subscription to The Didsbury Review just for
Olson’s column. The author, who lives in Carstairs, Alberta, has
written six books compiled from her columns, including The Kitchen Table
Collection (1991), Dogs, Birds, Kids and Other Wildlife (1993), and The
Family Picnic and Other Events (1995). Having enjoyed this volume, the
reader will want to read the rest of her works. This book is a definite
keeper.