From the Top of a Grain Elevator

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University and the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

Rosthern, Saskatchewan, was home for the award-winning poet and
playwright Barbara Nickel from birth to high-school graduation. In this
collection of poems, she revisits her prairie roots and takes readers
through a seasonal tour of life on the prairies. Her poetry provides
vivid images and details of the gradual transformations of the prairie
landscape, including the seasonal cycle of the slough. Nickel writes
about hunting for crocuses, picking saskatoons, watching the northern
lights, harvesting wheat, skating on the slough, wondering at the beauty
of hoarfrost, and experiencing temperatures of forty below.

Author’s notes at the end of the book explain the different forms of
poetry used throughout the collection, including syllable-count metre,
tanka, sonnet, and concrete. Thiessen’s black-and-white etchings
appropriately complement the poems. Readers will gain insight into
poetic language and form, as well as understanding of the seasonal life
on the prairies. Highly recommended.