When the book “A Prairie Alphabet” was published in 1992, the author never expected the success it would have. Now, 25 years later, it is considered an iconic part of Saskatchewan and is a much-beloved tome found in homes across Saskatchewan, Canada, and the world.

The book was written by Jo-Anne Bannatyne Cugnet, originally in 1988. She got the inspiration to write it after marrying Ken Cugnet, a farmer. As someone who grew up in the city, she realized she didn’t know a lot about living on a farm. To help teach her kids, and to learn herself, she went to the library.

“Most of the books I found were about olden days, pioneer days. I couldn’t find anything contemporary that was about our life,” Bannatyne-Cugnet related. She initially started to come up with a scrapbook for her children, as a way to put together the information. Then, she came up with the idea about a book for other people, so people from the city wouldn’t be ignorant about prairie life.

After the book was written it was then picked up by Tundra Publishing, based out of Montreal at the time. They needed illustrations, so they reached out to Yvette Moore from Moose Jaw. The artist provided the works which graced the pages alongside Bannatyne-Cugnet’s words.

With all the successes of the book over the years, Bannatyne-Cugnet says the partnership with Moore is perhaps the best thing to happen from the book, along with a lot more.

“We’ve had many fun times over the years,” she stated. “The book has really been a blessing in my life.

A gala is scheduled at the Yvette Moore Gallery in Moose Jaw Thursday evening, to commemorate the anniversary of the launch of the book.