Making It Home: The Story of Catharine Parr Traill

Christine Linge MacDonald, a past director of the Toronto & District
Parent Co-operative Preschool Corporation and a freelance writer, is an
elementary-school teacher in Whitby.

Catharine Parr Traill was already a published author before she came to
Canada in 1832. An enthusiastic naturalist, she chronicled her pioneer
life in early Canada with loving attention to detail, carefully
observing both humanity and nature.

Lynn Westerhout’s affection for her subject is always evident as one
reads this book. Its format is eminently accessible: each page has a
title, several topical paragraphs, a drawing or photograph, and a
sidebar that expands on the subject at hand. Westerhout often includes a
quote from Traill’s work or from one of Traill’s favourite authors,
and she recounts Traill’s activities in a personal, narrative form:
“Catharine looked anxiously down the snowy hill. Mary Strickland’s
sister was trudging up. Good news or bad? Good. The men would return
soon, the rebellion had failed. Catharine drove Susanna and her four
children through the starry night back to their own house.” Throughout
the book Liz Milkau’s charming pencil drawings bring such scenes to
life.

While clearly well-researched, the book exudes a friendly, casual
attractiveness. Westerhout’s attention to detail is evident with her
inclusion of an “Index and Glossary of Who’s Who and What’s
What” and a two-page list of all the quotes used and their origins.
Highly recommended.