Made from blocks of scrap fabric and old flour sacks, samplers were created by pioneer women to show their proficiency in needlework. In the opening paragraphs of her latest book, Saskatchewan author Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet compares these pioneer creations to the life and history of the Prairies, a metaphor that carries through to the concept of the book itself.

Bannatyne-Cugnet, whose previous books include A Prairie Alphabet and A Prairie Year, presents blocks of information, not only about the geographic peculiarities of the area that covers five million square kilometres across North America, but about the diverse people who inhabit the land, and their work, play, food, arts, and traditions.

The presentation is certainly informal; the conversational, friendly text is embroidered with personal anecdotes and even includes down-home recipes for Saskatoon pie and bannock, as well as instructions for wheat weaving. Yvette Moore, the illustrator of Bannatyne-Cugnet’s two previous Prairie picture books, provides highly realistic rural scenes: children playing among round bales, a game of road hockey, along with requisite prairie fields, dilapidated wagons, and grain elevators.

More than just an attractive gift book, this information-packed homage to the Prairies will appeal to school and public libraries wanting to beef up their collections about our continent’s heartland.