by Carolyn Barnes

This booklet is made up of two fictional letters written by a British woman in Upper Canada in 1835. The letters talk about coming to settle in Canada. They focus on clearing land and building a house. The letters do not mention much about the work that the women did. The illustrations do not show women working.

The letters in this booklet are long but the sentences repeat many of the same words. It would be easy to read, but some people could be bored by it. The introduction to this booklet says "The people who come to Canada write letters. They write letters to their family and to their friends back home." Women could talk about how people who come to Canada and cannot read and write keep in touch with their friends and family.

The letters in this booklet talk about what life was like in Canada for some people more than one hundred and fifty years ago. Women who have come to Canada more recently may like to talk about how their experience is similar to, or different from, the view presented in these letters.

This booklet could be used as one part of some lessons on how and why people come to Canada. It would be useful only if other books were also studied. The message this book seems to convey is at the end of the second letter. It says "We have to work hard. We do not care. The harder we work, the better things will be for us." Without other points of view, women might not speak about how "better things" do not only depend on hard work.

A review by Tannis Atkinson, Toronto, Ontario