PRAIRIE SCHOOL

by Lois Lenski ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 5, 1951

Eighth in Miss Lenski's regional series, this thrilling story of a year in the lives of school children of the Dakota plains, is, as the author herself declares in her preface ""no synthetic, manufactured adventure"". On the strength of letters received from the pupils and teacher in a tiny one-room schoolhouse in South Dakota, Miss Lenski spent some time living in the little school absorbing the ""everyday"" drama of their continuous battle with the elements. The story begins with the two-children welcoming committee, composed of Delores and Darrell Wagner, awaiting their teacher, Miss Martin, as she arrives for the school year in the midst of a prairie fire, and continues through the winter's adventures -- terrible blizzards, when each day's decision as to whether the children should go home is literally a matter of life and death; nights spent in the schoolhouse with limited supplies in the midst of a paralyzing storm; and emergencies demanding quick thinking and courage, when the temperature is twenty-five below and the drifts are ten feet high. The children and the adults are very real people -- some strong, some weak, but all living very close to the fierce elements they must face.

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION