PRINCETON, Ill. — It began, like all good books, with “Once upon a time.”

Once upon a time, Jannifer Powelson was working on her master's degree from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Ill. She had a lot of free time when she wasn't studying, and she found herself exploring the prairies in the Lee County area with her camera.

"I had lots of time to hang out on the prairie and look at the plants," she said. "I really learned how to identify them."

Powelson got her degree and moved to Princeton in 2000. She currently works as a resource conservationist for the Stark County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Powelson wasn't sure what to do with all her photographs, but in 2003, an idea finally occurred to her.

"After my older daughter, Alexandra, was born, I came up with this idea of a junior field guide and doing a children's story," she said.

And that's how "Rachel and Sammy Visit the Prairie" was born. The book, a combination of story, illustrations and photographs, features Rachel the raccoon, who teaches her friend, Sammy Skunk, to identify 20 common prairie plants as they explore a Midwestern prairie.

The book was published in November 2009, at the end of a lengthy process that involved numerous rejection letters and revisions.

"They always had really nice rejection letters," Powelson said with a smile.

Powelson, who describes her story as fiction based on facts, reads a lot of books with Alexandra and her younger daughter, Brenna. She said that while many authors try to incorporate some education into children's books, she hasn't found anything quite like "Rachel and Sammy Visit the Prairie."

"I haven't seen anything in this format, so I I'd like to think it's a little bit different," she said. "It's an educational book, so it's not all just imagination and a fun story. But I tried to make it read well and be somewhat fun."

Powelson would like to create an awareness of nature with her "Rachel and Sammy" series, which now also includes "Rachel and Sammy Visit the Forest," which focuses on the forest and woodland wildflowers.

Powelson will take part Saturday in the 14th annual Prairie Day event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area on Jugtown Road, off Pine Bluff Road, in Morris. She will be on hand with her books from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and give a book talk at 12:30 p.m.

For additional information about Prairie Day, log onto http://www.gooselakeprairie.org/prairieday.htm

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Barb Kromphardt is a staff writer for the Bureau County Republican in Princeton, Ill.