Customer Reviews

Prairie Songs

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book entitled, Prairie Songs, was written by Pam Conrad. In this piece of literature, a city couple moves from New York to the Nebraska prairie. Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Berryman are a newly married couple who come to live on the Nebraska prairie, near Louisa and her family. Mrs. Berryman is not used to hard life, and she comes dressed in magnificent clothes. She encounters hard problems, but Louisa and her family help her with the farming, ect.

Louisa longs to look at Mrs. Berryman's collection of books, but doesn't get much of a chance, until she begins taking lessons from Mrs. Berryman. In the summer, Mrs. Berryman loses her newborn child and goes into a period of shock. One day during the middle of winter, two Indians come to the Berryman's house, and send Mrs. Berryman fleeing out into the snow. Since her husband is away, at a train wreck, she freezes out in the snow. Louisa ends up helping her mother to get the frozen neighbor into the house so the animals outside won't eat her body.

This book is a really good book to read, and I enjoyed it very much. I think that anyone who likes historical fiction/western novels, should read this piece of literature. Happy reading!!!

Prairie Songs is written by Pam Conrad and illustrated by Darryl S. Zudeck. It was a 1985 Golden Kite Honor Book, and Best Books For Young Adults (ALA). It was also a 1986 IRA Children's Book Award Winner. It is about a family who lived in Nebraska and some of the hardships and joys that they experienced. New neighbors come into their ordinary prairie lives and they see many changes. Now they must teach the New York family of two the ways of the prairie. Mrs. Berryman is not used to having Indians just sneaking into her house and is terribly frightened but Louisa and her mother Clara help Mrs. Berryman to overcome her fear. Because she has many books, Mrs. Berryman agreed to give Louisa and her shy younger brother Lester reading lessons. When a man by the name of Solomon Butcher stopped by Louisa's house, he asked to take a picture of her family. Louisa was very anxious to see the picture but was told that it must be developed first and she could see it at the forth of July celebration. After Mrs. Berryman's baby died, she becomes full of despair, but the reading lessons, which Mrs. Berryman is teaching, seemed to help her in the tough life on the prairie. When Mr. Berryman must go along with Louisa's father J.T. and another neighbor Mr. Whitfield to help attend to a terrible train wreck, Mrs. Berryman must be left alone for a few days. During that time two Indians paid Mrs. Berryman and Louisa and her family a visit. This book takes some surprising turns and keeps you interested until the final page. I liked this book because I thought that it had a very good story line and it told me what life was like back then on the prairie.

As a teacher and a parent I was very disappointed that this book was chosen for my gifted 4th grader to read. While Little House on the Prairie may be too romantic for some, this book goes to the other extreme. It contains a child pulling a gun on their parent, a woman having a mental breakdown, a stillbirth, and a child being asked to carry a frozen body. Life on the prairie was hard, but there must be better stories out there for young readers. I would suggest to teachers to have students read Little House on the Prairie and then compare it to what we know about the Ingall's real lives. There is a lot of material available for that discussion.

Prairie Songs should be listed for children high school age, not for ages 9 to 12. It's very depressing for younger children. I read this book with my 13 year old and was crying while I read parts of it. The book is a very good account of the many hardships and tragedies suffered by pioneers going west, but I seriously don't recommend it for children younger then 13 or 14. When I bought this book, with a name like "Prairie Songs", I expected something more on the order of a "Little House" book. There was to much death and sadness in the book.

From an adult, personal standpoint, and from a person who loves reading about westward expansion and prairie life, I found this to be quite a good read. Conrad's descriptions and use of various figurative language is indeed a plus. Conrad's knowledge of life on the prairie during this time period is evident. The accuracy of the historical aspects of the time is impressive.
The problem I have with the book, eventhough it received the Children's Book Award in 1986, is that the theme of the book is not one which elementary school children can process. Having taught fourth and fifth grade students most of the thirty-five years of my teaching career, I can declare of a certainty that this is not a book that these students can appreciate. Boys of this age, as well as most middle schoolers, would find the scene with Paulie shooting at his mother very funny! It is anything but! It is also not realistic for children and parents of this time period to have the back and forth banter that this family has.
Pregnancy and childbirth were generally not shared with children of the time period.
Many of my students would be quite uncomfortable if this book were read as a trade book or as a supplement to the language curriculum.
As an adult, I found the book both touching and disturbing in many aspects.

I really enjoy historical fiction, especially stories about pioneers, and that's what attracted me to this book. This book centers around the idea that some women were able to adapt to the demands of the frontier and some weren't. That is an interesting idea to explore, but I'm not quite sure Prairie Songs goes beyond just the surface of the notion. From the time Mrs. Berryman arrived on the scene, I knew something horrific was going to happen to her. I kept reading, not necessarily because I was interested in the characters, but because I was curious as to what that horrific end would be. There was no "wow, that's so true" moment, which is what I really like to have while reading. I'm not sorry I read it, but now I'd like to find something to read that DOES explore that "survival" notion in more depth.

Pam Conrad did such an excellent job with Prairie Songs I felt like I was actually there.
This story is in first person point of view. The main character is a young girl named Louisa who lives with her father, mother, and little brother in Nebraska on a plain, barren prairie. She is a static character nothing very dramatic changes about her, but she has many characteristics that you will find very funny and interesting.
The main plot of the story consists of conflict after conflict. First, this Doctor and his wife move to the same Nebraska prairie, and everything begins to go uphill. Louisa gets to hear about the city life, her and her brother get free school lessons, the moms get to become friends, and the dads get to hang out and get away from the women.
Until one thing goes wrong and scares the Docs wife so bad that she has a miscarriage. Then the men have to leave for a few days and last some Indians decide to pay Louisa and her family a visit. There is no happiness anywhere to be found for a while, until the warm spring comes around and it brings out the best in everyone.
In conclusion, even though there is a lot of sadness and death but the turnout of everything is worth it. I would not recommend this book to any child younger than the age of 13. This is a very mature book. So if you like nice, calm, but yet sad stories you will love this book.

As a teacher I had wanted to use this book as part of my social studies curriculum. I enjoyed the story and felt Louisa's longing for the books Mrs. Berryman owns. While there were some disturbing scenes (violence by a child against his mother that is never resolved) and some prejudice against Native Americans (it does a good job presenting the settler's point of view, but instead of painting the Native Americans as thieves it could have a less stereotypical view) I think it tells an important tale. However, there are other texts that tell this story in a way more appropriate for a school setting. I would definitely let my own children read it however, as long as we talked about the troublig issues in it.

Great characterization. Engrossing story of settlers young and adult and how they coped with their lives on the open prairie. The child protagonist longs for the books the doctor's wife has brought with her from the east. Unfortunately, the doctor's wife can't cope with the lonesome prairie, the loss of her unborn child and a harmless encounter with Indians. Read this several months ago with my children and the characters still cling to me.

This book, set in the state of Nebraska, is a story telling of the hardship of a couple from the city. A doctor and his wife move to the prairie from New York City, and the wife can't stand it. After encountering Indians and losing her child, it is very hard for to cope. Definately a piece you want to read!