Brian O'Connel's family lives in a town on the edge of the Canadian prairie. As Brian ages from four to twelve, he stores up memories of events – his loneliness when his baby brother's life-threatening illness consumes all of his family's attention, his grandmother's sternness, the hatching of baby pigeons, the new friend who shows him where God lives, learning the rules the hard way on his first day of school, meeting the boy who lives on the prairie, getting his first dog. Brian senses that these things and events are important, and that there's more to them than he can see and understand. Like Jesus' mother, Mary, he “treasured up all these things and pondered them in [his] heart.”

All readers will identify with the boy Brian and his playmates. Even though I grew up in a different era than the book describes, it brought back memories of things I thought I had forgotten. Older readers may identify with Grandmother McMurray, Brian's mother's mother, who lives with the O'Connels. As her world shrinks from age and infirmity, Grandmother's thoughts turn more frequently to her homesteading days as she gazes at the prairie through her bedroom window.

I listened to the abridged audio version on a road trip. The author's performance far exceeded my modest expectations. He has the voice of a master storyteller, and it stirred strong memories from my childhood. His voice and inflection sounded a lot like broadcaster Paul Harvey, whose voice I heard almost every day on the radio during my childhood. ( )