“Islands of Grass”
Text by Trevor Herriot, Photos by
Branimir Gjetvaj
Published by Coteau Books
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$39.95
ISBN 9-781550-509311
Saskatchewan naturalist, activist, and
Governor-General's Award-nominee Trevor Herriot has penned another title that should
be on every bookshelf, and particularly on the shelves of those who love our
precarious prairie grasslands and the threatened creatures who inhabit them. In
Islands of Grass, Herriot has teamed
with environmental photographer Branimir Gjetvaj to create a coffee table-esque
hardcover that's part call to action, part celebration, and part Ecology 101. The
pair's mutual passion for our disappearing grasslands – the term
"islands" deftly illustrates their fate – is evident on every page of
this important and beautiful must-read.
Herriot's erudite essays are personal,
political, and urgent. Filled with first-person anecdotes (ie: his father's
memories of dust storms), plus stories from ranchers, ecologists, and agency
professionals, they also explain the history of grass and reveal how pioneers
were encouraged to plow in order to prosper. There's much plant, bird, and
animal information, including statistical numbers re: their endangerment and recovery.
The book's five chapters are written in
the engaging conversational/informational style Herriot's faithful readers have
come to expect, ie: the opening line: "It was along the northern edge of
Old Wives Lake—a vast inland sea that year—where I am pretty sure I had the
briefest glimpse of a swift fox." Lines
later he explains that these once seriously endangered "cat-sized
canines" are now "the most successful recovery story on the northern
Great Plains," a fact backed-up by promising numbers from a 2005-2006 census.
(Those unfamiliar with the Regina author's writing may recognize his distinct
"voice" from his regular contributions to CBC Radio's "Blue
Sky" program.)
Gjetvaj's photographs present a
dramatic gallery of landscapes that underscore the cinema of Saskatchewan's skies
and how cultivation (evident in patchwork crops) has dominated the prairies.
Images of lush grass, buffalo bean and moss phlox, wetlands, valleys, rolling
hills, livestock, insects, feathered wonders, hard-working folks, and that
inimitable prairie sunlight illustrate how each are part and parcel of this
unique - and rancher vs. conservationist-conflicted - region, where Herriot
measures the weight of a bobolink at "about a $1.25 in quarters".
I learned that there are 10,000
grass-types, and they act as a kind of ecological gate-keeper. I learned how
the government's 2012 cutting of the PFRA community pastures program has put
grasslands (and their ecologies) at much greater risk, and native grasses are
"increasingly susceptible to the dollars and dreams of people who want to
build a McMansion with twenty acres out back where they keep a horse no one
rides". I was reminded about heroes like Peter and Sharon Butala, who
donated their land to the Nature Conservancy of Canada; and Wallace Stegner,
whose 1960 letter to the Outdoor Recreation Review Commission formed the basis
of the The Wilderness Act in the U.S.
– public land legislation Herriot envies.
"All of life is grass," he
writes, and while "Saskatchewan is among the worst on the planet for
grassland protection," Herriot asserts that "nature specializes in
miracles," and we all share in
the responsibility of maintaining our critical grasslands.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
____________________
“An Alphabet of the First Christmas: A
Christian Alphabet Book”
by Susan Harris
Published by White Lily Press
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$12.00
ISBN 978-0-9949869-2-4
Author Susan Harris has added another alphabet
book to her growing list of titles: An
Alphabet of the First Christmas: A Christian Alphabet Book, will be
specifically welcome to those who wish to teach (or learn!) the alphabet from a
Christmas-themed and a Christian
perspective. Like her book, Christmas A
to Z, this softcover leads young readers through a colourful array of
images, and it uses some "big" words to represent certain letters.
For example, "B" is for Bethlehem, "E" is for
"Emmanuel," "F" is "Frankincense," and
"Y" is for "Yeshua," "the Hebrew name for Jesus,"
meaning saviour. I applaud Harris for
using both simple words and these more difficult ones: I can almost hear a
little child carefully pronouncing "Frankincense" after he or she
hears it, and enjoying both the challenge and the sound of the word.
Several of the illustrations reminded
me of traditional Christmas card images, while others featured cartoon-like
characters. The book is perfect for Christmas gift-giving, as it even includes
a handy "To" and "From" page at the beginning.
To learn more about Harris, I consulted
her website at www.susanharris.ca. Born and raised in Trinidad and now a
resident of Melville, Harris – a writer, speaker, and former teacher – credits
her disparate homes for making her adaptive. "Susan can adapt to audiences
and geographic conditions, and she attributes this to the exposure of city
living, island living and rural living. Winter seasons have seen her
interchange a briefcase and a shovel, as she tosses snow in high heeled boots
and executive suit."
Christianity, leadership, and public
speaking have been a huge part of Harris's life since childhood. "Since age 9, she has been standing in front of
audiences, and has inspired thousands in schools, churches, conferences and
youth groups to find fulfilment in life. Her beliefs and experiences have
helped women in particular to discover practical ways of leading positive and
intentional lives. Her messages have been presented with clarity, conviction
and humour."
As with Harris's other Christmas
alphabet book, this title includes a "Letter from the Author," which
begins "Dear Little Friend of Jesus". Harris explains that
"There are many books which teach about the alphabet, but [she] wanted to
write a special one about Jesus and Christmas. Not everyone believes in the
Christian faith, but they can still learn about what we believe because
education is about learning different things."
In her letter to young readers,
Harris suggests that they "name the pictures and sound out the
words." For further learning, she writes that they "can also talk
about where these words are found in the Bible." The book concludes with
"A Prayer to Invite Jesus into Your Heart," and "A Prayer for My
Little Friends' Success".
If you have a child, grandchild, or
another little one on your gift-giving list and you'd like them to know more
about the "Christ" in Christmas, you may want to include this educational
and celebratory book - published by White Lily Press in Yorkton – under the
tree.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
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