One Day in the Prairie (Trophy Chapter Book) [Paperback]

Jean Craighead George (Author), Bob Marstall (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Trophy Chapter Book

Henry Rush is spending the day at the Prairie Wildlife Refuge, determined to photograph a prairie dog doing a back flip. But while he whatches and waites at the edge of prairie dog town, he fails to notice the electricity humming through the air. Or the buffalo aniously pawing the ground. Or the purple-blue cloud building over the prairie grass. A tornado is forming to the west . And when the dark funnel touches down, it will wipe out everything in it's path...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At dawn, the electricity in the air warns buffalo of an impending storm. An eagle flies overhead; a prairie dog back flips to warn other prairie dogs about the eagle. Henry, camera in hand, wants to photograph the wildlife. Before the day is out, he will have survived a tornado that has killed animals and plants. That is life on the prairie, as related by Newbery Medalist George. Her lucid explanations of the ways the animals read signals and prepare for a storm are a primer in natural science; she chooses information with care, and maintains a simple storyline. Marstall's pictures add drama to a book that's perhaps not as immediately interesting as George's One Day in the Alpine Tundra and One Day in the Desert, perhaps because prairies are more familiar landscapes. Yet readers will newly understand the fragility and interrelationship of life forms.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6 As in her two previous books in this series, One Day in the Desert (1983) and One Day in the Alpine Tundra (1984, both Crowell) , George takes an ecological community, adds a child, and comes up with a story both factually accurate and exciting to read. Henry spends a day at a southwestern Oklahoma wildlife refuge to try to photograph a prairie dog doing a backflip (a warning signal to its kin). He doesn't know that a tornado is forming on the horizon, but the nearby buffalo herd senses its approach. With her usual skill, George describes the plants, the animals, and the insects of the prairie and their behavior as the storm approaches. Black-and-white pencil drawings expand the text and bring out the threat of the coming tornado. There is a bibliography of titles on more specific aspects of the prairie ecosystem and a short index. George provides a brief but intense and detailed look at the North American prairie, equally suitable for a homework assignment or for browsing. With the recent popularity of books on the history of the prairie, it is good to balance them with a look at its ecology and natural history. Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 12, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064420396
• ISBN-13: 978-0064420396
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( G ) > George, Jean Craighead
  • #94 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Environment & Ecology > Nonfiction

More About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing and hasn't stopped yet. She has written over 100 books.Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Feel the excitement of a tornado and a buffalo stampede, April 18, 2001

By 

Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Day in the Prairie (Trophy Chapter Book) (Paperback)

Here is another entry in nature writer Jean Craighead George's fantastic ONE DAY series. This one, unlike the other books in the series--ONE DAY IN THE. . .WOODS, ALPINE TUNDRA, DESERT, and TROPICAL RAIN FOREST--is written more dramatically in the present, and is a very satisfying introduction to the lively environment of the United States prairie. Henry Rush, a young photographer, gets to spend one day on the prairie to take a picture of a prairie dog doing a backflip. These comical little critters provide humor, while the buffalo of a nearby herd seem wise and noble. Suddenly, disaster strikes. A tornado is headed for the prairie, and Henry, the buffalo, the prairie dogs, and countless other creatures are in its path. The result is thrilling and tense. The illustrator's amazingly realistic drawings add to the excitement. This is a fine story about a lively environment from the author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, HOW TO TALK TO YOUR DOG, and many, many more superb books about the environment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Day in the Prairie, May 27, 2007

By 

Susan C. Ellington "selling" (Houston,TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Day in the Prairie (Trophy Chapter Book) (Paperback)

I have its companion books "One Day in the Tropical Rainforest", "One Day in the Woods", and "One Day in the Desert". I was very excited to get this one. I use them all in my third grade class room. The children find them an interesting and exciting way to learn about different types of land.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Educational Purposes, March 20, 2008

By 

C. Beall (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: One Day in the Prairie (Trophy Chapter Book) (Paperback)

This book has some of the most beautiful pencil drawings I've seen in a children's book. While the story isn't overly enthralling, he does a great job of describing the animals and plants in detail to help the reader learn about each one and to really imagine they are there on the prairie. We will be using this book as a resource to study prairie life.