This is a wonderfully warm and inviting depiction of the plains region. For those of us who are from the prairie, the book stirs appreciation and love for the land that has helped shape us. For those who are not from the prairie, the author offers a viewpoint that helps in understanding the beauty of the land and the people of the plains.

I loved this seminal work from some of Canada's finest poets, and for me, the opening stanza sums up just what is right about the work of Bouchard.

"Oh elephant, your nose is long,
Do you not think that it is wrong?"

Stunning.

this book is beautifully done. the words paint pictures and the pictures tell a story. i read it to my 3rd grade class and am planning to buy one for my 83 year old father for christmas!!

I bought this book because I am a fan of David Bouchard's book "If You're Not From the Prairie." I cried when I read "If Sarah Will Take Me." This is a book that doesn't fit easliy into a category. It is poetry, more in the adult category with the appearance of a children's book. I have made many people read this book and they agree that it is something special. It would make a wonderful gift for anyone.

The poetry and the pictures are beautiful. When you read the words you start to think about what the person had and has lost in his life.

The message is simple, and the illustrations stunning. This is a great way to introduce children to environmental issues and concerns. I have found that this book is also hard to find. Love the art work by Roy Vickers.

We have read alot of Chinese New Year's books and found this to be the least enjoyable. We were surprised and disappointed to find a quite scary part in the middle. Not unless you read the afterword will you find out that Bouchard made up the story. (I do not think the subtitle should say it is a Chinese legend.) I would recommend that you stay away from this book, and certainly read it well before you consider reading it to any children. I would not want this to be anyone's first or only introduction to Chinese dragons, Chinese New Year's or the Year of the Dragon! If you use this book, do have others on hand and explain that this is just one person's view. (This is an especially strong reaction from me as we read lots of different versions of almost any story we read.)

We received this book as a gift. At first, I was afraid my 2-year-old daughter (adopted from China) might find this story too scary. But once I got her to sit through the rather long story, she absolutely loved it!!! She now takes the book with her everywhere, calling it her 'dragon book'. I'm not sure what exactly it means when Bouchard says he made up the story, but stayed true to Chinese history and folklore - it seems a contradiction to me to say you both made up a story, and stayed true to folklore...But whatever it means, I can't argue with the fact that my daughter just loves the book!

Shostak's illustrations for this book are evocative and demonstrate the variety of activities and landscapes experienced on the prairies. Bouchard's verse, however, is trite and shallow. In fact, much of it is repeated from his earlier book, If You're Not From the Prairie.... If you like Bouchard's writing, then don't buy this book - go for the earlier one. But if you want a book that shows the prairies to be a complex and evolving place instead of a nostalgic backwater, you'd be better off skipping Bouchard entirely and buying a book like Jo Bannatyne-Cuget's A Prairie Alphabet (illustrations by Yvette Moore).