Calgary artist Hazel Litzgus has compiled a picture book memoir of her childhood on a Prairie farm. Organized into sections according to the seasons, the book uses her watercolour paintings as a stepping stone into the memories that inspired each work of art. Each page contains one colour illustration and a line drawing plus a short passage of prose about life on the Alberta farm where she grew up.

Litzgus’s watercolour paintings have a child-like simplicity with distortions in perspective similar to those of primitive paintings. Her palette is joyful with happy yellows, bright reds, and fresh greens. The effect is child-friendly and appealing.

What is not particularly child-friendly is the book’s length of 68 pages, which is more than twice as long as most picture books. The book is simply too long to hold a child’s attention, especially with no cohesive storyline to link the pictures.The accompanying text is memory fragments, without any development or pacing.

I found this book very difficult to place. As a picture book, it lacks a story. As an art book, it lacks information about the creative process and the pictures are small. As a history book, it lacks specific dates and a timeline, both of which would provide some historical context. As a memoir, it lacks sufficient biographical detail. A similar type of book that successfully incorporates all these elements is Capturing Joy: The Story of Maud Lewis (Tundra Books), which explores the work and life of another popular Canadian folk artist.

Those who are already fans of Hazel Litzgus’s work may find Where the Meadowlark Sang a ready source of her charming paintings. But others won’t likely be drawn to this book.