Book Description

Let's round 'em up and move 'em along! In words and pictures, Gail Gibbons captures all the excitement and adventure of the Wild West. Her colorful watercolors deftly re-create cowboys' clothing, equipment, and lifestyle, and the lively text includes descriptions of famous cowboys and cowgirls, as well as historical facts. ... Read more

Book Description

Illus. in full color. "Straightforward information on cowboys, their gear, history, daily lives, and famous and infamous cowboys gains additional appeal from detailed drawings."--Booklist. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A comical cowboy
Title: Four Dollars and Fifty Cents
Author: Eric A. Kimmel
Favorite Characters: Shorty Long, Widow Macrae, Smiley Dunlap, and Oregon Parrott

Shorty Long owes everyone money and Widow Macrae wants her money now! Shorty is afraid to pay because than everyone will want their money, too. So Shorty acts died, but Widow realizes that Shorty is not died and offers to bury him. Shorty remains still as Widow watches him into the night. Widow says she will burry him in the morning if he doesn't move by than.
The story takes a twist when a gang of outlaws show up see Shorty in the coffin. Shorty remains still even as the outlaws talk about a train they robbed and the money they stole. But wait till you see what happens when one of them suggest to cut Shorty's nose off to make him fit in the coffin. You'll have to read the book to see what happens and if Widow gets his money. You will get a laugh out of this book!

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Reviews (1)

Classic Will James
Sun Up brings under one cover nine of James's previously published stories, along with seven originals. The subtitle "tales of the cow camps" allows for a wide range of subject matter, including rodeo ("His Spurs," "First Money," "Bucking Horses and Bucking-Horse Riders"), wild horses ("Midnight," "The Last Catch," "Cupid, the Mustang"), stunt riding in western movies ("Filling in the Cracks"), and, of course, James's usual take on cattle rustling ("Cattle Rustlers").

As always the stories told from his own viewpoint are those that shine brightest. For readers who were unsatisfied with some the sketchy portrayals of certain events in his "autobiography," Sun Up provides several more in-depth explanations, including "Filling in the Cracks" and "Cupid, the Mustang" - the latter being the story of how he supposedly met his wife.

None of the stories are outstanding, but taken as a whole, the work is satisfyingly classic Will James. ... Read more

Book Description

Young Phoebe is raised as a Southwestern belle, which made her a genteel gal who was also a great rider and roper. One day she enters the territory rodeo to compete against the ill-mannered Tumbleweed Gang and their reign as champions is over.

Clifford, Elmo, and Eustace Tumbleweed decide to get rid of sissified Phoebe Clappsaddle once and for all. But Phoebe fouls their devilish plot and teaches the boys some manners, too. Then, for a time, the desert blooms in the territory again.

This thirty-two-page hardback and jacketed book is beautifully illustrated with the colors of west Texas. Illustrator Virginia Marsh Roeder uses collage effects to depict patterns from the cowboy’s shirts to the diamonds on a rattlesake’s back. The thirty-one illustrations complement the amusing story with delicate teasing and bristly fun to delight kids and grownups alike. Readers will enjoy the details of desert animals and faces with Western character, or characters with Western faces, that is. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

What A Girl!
Phoebe Clappsaddle and the Tumbleweed Gang.
Dainty, darling Phoebe Clappsaddle combines Southern manners with roping rattlesnakes.
The Tumbleweed Gang drift into town and try to ruin Phoebe's flame-thrower chili and sabotage her bronco-riding. Their worst embarrassment is losing to a GIRL. Phoebe realizes these bad guys need to learn some manners, not to mention reading, writing, and arithmetic. She entices them with her hot biscuits, prickly pear marmalade and chili. But she insists they wash up for supper.
Burping in public and picking teeth with a cactus needle are a sharp contrast to Phoebe's curtsying and blowing kisses to the crowd
Being a fifth generation Houstonian and a descendant of the real Phoebe Clappsaddle gives Melanie Chrismer the edge on demonstrating roping tricks with her pink lasso.
Virginia Roeder's spirited, clever drawings of the sashaying Phoebe and her detailed illustrations offer much to study. Readers can't resist even the evil, smirking Clilfford, Elmo and Eustace, who blew into town one day like a tumbleweed and got caught on a fence. Even the horses have unique expressions.
Author Melanie Chrismer and artist Virginia Roeder are members of the Houston Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

I couldn't resist this book -- and I'm not even a little kid
Phoebe is well-mannered, feminine, and nice to everybody,
nasty Tumbleweeds and all animals included, but she is most definitely not a sissy. Sure, this is a great book for girls, but I'll bet even the little boys will love it!

Virginia Roeder's illustrations are priceless. They're clever, beautiful, and adorable; I'll enjoy looking at the pictures again and again, and reading the story over and over, too. I've cleared a place of honor on my bookshelf for Ms. Clappsaddle and the gang.

Phoebe Equals Fun!
This book is a must for all the young cowpokes in the family. Phoebe's outstanding rodeo talents leave the Tumbleweed Gang in an uproar; their only hope...to get even! Of course Phoebe doesn't take this lying down, but she handles it like a true lady. Chrismer is genuinely gifted in use of Texas dialect. Her characters are fun and her tall tale outrageous. Phoebe Clappsaddle is a treasured addition to my family's bookshelf. ... Read more

Book Description

from Sankofa Books, an imprint of Just Us Books...

Will the Real West Please Stand Up?! The exciting adventures of Black cowboys, pioneers, soldiers, and other frontiersmen join the celebrated folklore of the wild West in the Reflections of a Black Cowboy series. Through colorful, masterfully crafted vignettes that rival the tall tales of the old frontier, author Robert H. Miller shares stories of important real life heroes—men and women whose bravery and adventurous spirits helped make the American West possible.

Cowboys introduces figures such as Nat Love, a freed slave-turned teenage cowboy who became Deadwood Dick—champion roper of the western cattle country; Bill Pickett, the inventor of the rodeo sport of steer wrestling, and Mary Fields, who spent 50 years as a slave, then found a new life as a Western crime fighter. ... Read more

Book Description

Highly skilled, hard-working, and loyal to each other and to the ranches that employ them, the Mexican and Mexican American vaqueros who work on the famous King and Kenedy Ranches of South Texas' Wild Horse Desert are some of America's best cowboys. Many of them come from families who have lived and worked on the ranches for over a hundred years. They preserve the memories of ranch life handed down by their grandparents and great-grandparents, even as they use modern technologies to keep the ranches running smoothly in the twenty-first century.This book tells the stories of the vaqueros of the Wild Horse Desert for fourth- through eighth-grade students. It begins with a brief history of the vaqueros and the King and Kenedy Ranches. Then, using in the words of today's vaqueros and their families, it describes many aspects of past and present life on the ranches. Young readers will learn what it's like to grow up on the ranches and how vaqueros learn their work. They'll also discover how much goes into being a vaquero, from using all the different ropes and equipment, to working a round-up, to showing prize-winning cattle and horses. Teachers and parents will appreciate all the supplemental material in the appendix, including a glossary, lists of related books and websites, hands-on learning activities, and even range and camp house recipes. ... Read more

Book Description

Out in the brown and dusty West lived a cowgirl named Jules— genuine like leather, strong like licorice. Her horse, Gertie, could sing, dance, cook, make a mean cup of coffee, multiply, divide, and speak three languages . . .

Mean Bulldog Pike and his horse, Bullet, give this talented twosome a run for their money with a crooked scheme to steal all the water in Sugar Dip. Will Jules and Gertie be able to save the town from this dastardly plot, or will the people of Sugar Dip never enjoy another glass of water again?
In the tradition of dusty desert towns and cowgirl grit, Jules and Gertie blaze new trails as the toughest ten-gallon heroines in the Wild West. Yikki Yea! ... Read more

Book Description

Slim, Jim, and Grimsley are the biggest, baddest bronco busters in the whole wide West. There's not a horse they can't tame -- until they meet up with one small cowboy and a black pony.The bronco busters try every trick in their book, but the pony fights back with tricks of his own.. Day after day, the small cowboy watches and waits for dark. Then he'll get his chance. Can he find a way to turn this fierce Bronco into a friend?Kimberly Bulcken Root's energetic illustrations are full of marvelous details and give spirit to Alison Cragin Herzig's inspiring story that celebrates the power of gentleness. ... Read more

Book Description

Owen Wister's powerful story of the silent stranger who rides into the uncivilized West and defeats the forces of evil embodies one of the most enduring themes in American mythology.

Set in the vast Wyoming territory, The Virginian (1902) captures both the grandeur and the loneliness of the frontier experience, brilliantly evoking the tension between the romantic freedom of the great, untamed landscape and mankind's deep-seated desire for community and social order. Wister brings to life the honesty and rough justice that ruled the range and the civilizing influence of determined women in frontier settlements that imposed a sense of society on an unruly population.

For Wister, the West tested a man's true worth. His hero-influenced by those of Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper-is a man who lives by the classic code of chivalry, ruled by quiet courage and a deeply felt sense of honor. ... Read more

Book Description

No outlaw could draw as fast as Lightning Larry. But what really terrified those bad men was that peculiar gun of his. It didn't shoot bullets. It shot light. And Larry always aimed for the heart. -- Can Larry save the town of Brimstone from Evil-Eye McNeevil's outlaw gang? Find out in this rip-roaring original tale of a gunfighter with a huge smile and a hankering for lemonade. ... Read more