TELL ME, GRANDMOTHER Lyn Hancock and Marion Dowler. Illustrated by Douglas Tait. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart, 1985. 160pp., paper, $9.95. ISBN 0-7710-3809-7. CIP. Grades 5 - 9 / Ages 10 - 14 Reviewed by A.L. Florence. Volume 13 Number 6 1985 November When Dennis asks Grandmother Jane how she got that mysterious ring she keeps twisting on her finger, he discovers that Great-great grandfather Joseph Howse was the first fur trader for the Hudson's Bay Company west of the Rockies, and Grandfather Sam was one of the famous Forty-Niners, a buffalo hunter, and Fort Calgary's first farmer. But it was Grandmother Jane's story he liked best: her life at the Red River Settlement (now Winnipeg), her adventures crossing the prairie in an ox cart, and raising her large family in a sod hut. Dennis became proud to be Métis. A well-woven tapestry of narrative history and genealogy, this short account of the Dowler family ancestors provides a neat entry into history's interesting aspects, one that brings Dennis's family members alive. Many children of this age, particularly in western Canada, will identify matching incidents within their own family, although without the numerous geographical points named here. Something of the warmth of There's a Seal in My Sleeping Bag (Totem Books, 1976) and Love Affair With a Cougar ¹ are reflected here, although the field of western history is so different. Recommended particularly where historical and genealogical anecdote are being combined to improve relevancy for students. ¹ Reviewed vol. Vll/1 Winter 1979, p.10. A.L. Florence, Winnipeg School Division No.1, Winnipeg, MB.