Under a Prairie Sky

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Like Carter’s Tall in the Saddle, this picture book deals with a young
boy’s imagination. In Under a Prairie Sky, an engaging storyline is
united with superb illustrations that capture one of Canada’s
distinctive landscapes. The unnamed narrator, along with his little
brother, Will, have been helping their father harvest wheat when Dad
notices both a storm’s approach and Will’s disappearance. The
narrator, who aspires to be a Mountie, is sent to find his missing
brother. After much riding and searching, he gets his “man,” who has
been playing in a slough. The two reach the barn’s safety just as the
prairie thunderstorm begins.

Although nothing in the text identifies the book’s time period, the
Daniels have elected to illustrate a past era when horses were still
used for farm work. Additionally, while the boy dreams of being a
Mountie, the badge he displays is for the NWMP, not the RCMP. The
illustrators’ watercolors vividly depict what could be an Alberta or
Saskatchewan setting and capture the immensity of the prairie landscape,
including its various colored skies. The Daniels use pairs of facing
pages well, with their illustrations frequently and dramatically
spilling over both pages. Carter’s poetic text is boxed, with the box
also containing a small illustration that connects to the text or
amplifies the storyline. Highly recommended.