A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall
by Sarah Ellis
Dear Canada (1926), My Story
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Description
Ivy Weatherall is just 11 years old when her family leaves England for the promised riches of Canada's expanding West. They've come to join her uncle for the available land, the lush harvests, and the opportunity for success. But in Milorie, Saskatchewan, their dreams crumble into dust when they reach Uncle Alf's small sod hut and discover that jobs are scarce, and that they can barely make ends meet.Ivy's relatives pack up and head back to England, but to Ivy, Canada is full of wonder and show more beginning to feel like home. There are challenges in her new life, but Ivy's feisty character and her sense of wonder for a prairie as wide as the sea make her adventure one that readers won't easily forget. Vetted by a historical expert, this book contains maps, period illustrations/documents, and an extensive historical note. show lessTags
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A realistic historical fiction novel that accurately depicts life on the prairies in the 1920s. Despite the different time period, young readers can identify with Ivy Weatherall through her passion, adventures, humor, and mishaps. An enjoyable and informative read.
This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.
Even Canadian English is sometimes different... Gundula points out the episode about buying 'cotton.'
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ThingScore 100
Ivy Weatherall and her family are emigrating from England to Milorie, Saskatchewan. It is 1926 and the Weatheralls are moving to Canada to start a new life on a farm. Ivy chronicles the ups and downs of moving to an entirely new place in the diary her Auntie Lou gave her before the family left England. Through Ivy's diary, we learn about daily life in rural Saskatchewan in the early 1900s.
added by stephippen
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Learning history through first-person, young adult, historical fiction one
188 works; 4 members
Author Information
29+ Works 1,640 Members
Sarah Ellis is an acclaimed children's writer, librarian, speaker and journalist whose books for young readers have won every major children's award in Canada. She has Masters' degrees in library science and children's literature and has taught children's literature at universities across Canada, and in the United States, Europe and Japan. Sarah show more lives in Vancouver, British Columbia show less
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- Canonical title
- A Prairie as Wide as the Sea: The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall
- First words
- My name is Ivy Doris Weatherall. I am eleven years old. This is the first diary I have ever had. Auntie Lou gave it to me because she said that I was starting the greatest adventure of my life and I should record it.
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- Members
- 276
- Popularity
- 116,596
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.96)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
