Alberta Blue: A prairie sky lullaby

Written by Pat Hatherly

Illustrated by Jesse Horne

Red Barn Books

978-1-98991-502-8

14 pp.

Ages 0-5

October 2021

 

As unhurried and melodic as the song written by Pat Hatherly and Jim Lewis, Alberta Blue lulls the young with the wideness of Alberta and the depth of its spirit.

 

With simple words and expansive images, author Pat Hatherly and illustrator Jesse Horne take us to a province of sweeping blue skies with impressive golden pink sunrises and dramatic northern lights. There are buffalo and tipis, trains and prairies, Rocky Mountains and cattle herds. This is an Alberta with its diverse landscapes and people and celebrated in natural rhyming text.

From Alberta Blue by Pat Hatherly, illus. by Jesse Horne

First the golden pink sunrise
warms the land with its hue.
Then a new day begins
wrapped in Alberta blue.

From Alberta Blue by Pat Hatherly, illus. by Jesse Horne

Albertans Pat Hatherly and Jesse Horne take us into the Alberta that is their home to see the colours that make it rich. We're not taken into the cities which could be from any province. Instead young readers are taken to the outdoors which could be past or present and always under that glorious blue sky. For young children in Alberta, the words will resonate but children elsewhere will get a natural feel for what the province has to offer. And with the vibrancy of her gouache colours and softness of line, even as she gives texture to her illustrations, Jesse Horne has matched her artwork fittingly for a board book and rhyming text aimed at the very young.

 

From Alberta Blue by Pat Hatherly, illus. by Jesse Horne

Whether you're an Albertan who is familiar with the song "Alberta Blue" which is performed by The Travelling Mabels, or a young child who is seeing the Alberta landscape for the first time, Alberta Blue will transport you to a province of vastness and colour, diverse in its places and people and story.