This is a story of adjusting to change.  Set in the days of horse-drawn buggies and homesteaders moving west, it tells of Elsie, a happy young girl growing up in Boston.  After her mother’s death, her father decides to seek change by moving Elsie and himself to a sod-roofed home on the prairies of Nebraska.  Elsie has a hard time adjusting to the change, and her only comfort comes from singing to and with her pet canary.  She keeps herself confined to the cabin, afraid to explore her strange new surroundings, until one day when her canary escapes — in rushing after the lost bird, Elsie comes to discover many delights in her new home, making it feel like her home at last.  It’s a sweet, gentle story.