Every once in awhile I stumble across a picture book or two that truly excite me. Marshall Cavendish has a good selection of children’s books but there were a few titles in particular that caught my eye and positively enthralled me. These books are the cutest, cutest books on the wild west that I have EVER seen! I’m in love with each one of them and I can’t wait to thrust them upon my Texas lovin’ family. (Warning: I will probably overuse the word ‘cute’ in this post. Consider yourself forewarned.)
The first book in the stack is Little Britches and the Rattlers. Little Britches is on her way to the rodeo and is all dressed up in her Cowboy finest. Along the road she meets seven cheeky rattlesnakes who rob her of her clothing, piece by piece. (Don’t worry, she keeps her long johns on the whole time.) The first snake threatens to eat her for a meal unless she turns over her Stetson hat. Another set of snakes threaten to “s-s-swaller” her up unless she gives up her blue jeans and chaps with the nice silver conchos. It begins to look like she’s never going to make it to the rodeo until the snakes get into a fight over her clothes and eat each other up, allowing her to recollect her garments, allowing her just enough time to get to the rodeo for the calf roping event. Written by Eric A. Kimmel, this book is a true Texas treat and I loved every single page.
The next book is called The Great Texas Hamster Drive. Young Sal is begging for a pet (I’m sure none of you with children know what this is like) and her father agrees to get her a hamster. He gets her two, which she names Crockett and Bowie. However, “she should have named one Alice or Dinah, because soon there were five hamsters.” One day Sal returned home from school to discover that the hamster cages had been left open and all of the hamsters had escaped. In an effort to recapture the hamsters (who keep reproducing, btw) a great Hamster Drive began, similar to a cattle drive. Very, very cute and hilarious books. (Especially since I grew up in Texas and owned hamsters. Ah hem.)
(Sadly) Lastly, we have Ten-Gallon Bart and the Wild West Show. (I’m sad only because these books were all so incredible that I want to just keep throwing titles at you. Alas, you’ll have to settle for three great reads for now!) Ten-Gallon Bart is too bored until Buffalo Chip’s Wild West Show comes to town. There is a bull riding contest and Ten-Gallon Bart wants to ride and win! Whoever manages to ride the bull is promised to be the star of the Wild West Show – but before they can ride him they have to wake the bull up! Cat Carson gives it a try, Roy Rooster and Jesse Jackalope. Nobody can wake up the bull. Nobody, that is, except Ten-Gallon Bart who employs a sneaky trick. This book is illustrated by Dorothy Donohue and it involves cut paper. It’s really very creative and unique. (Hop on over to her WEBSITE to get a feel for her style.) This book is so cool and (can I say it?) so cute! Loved it equally with the others.
Again, I just love it when I find a whole set of books that tell a good story and get the imagination going. These book have culture and Texas class and I very much appreciated them. This is one of those moments when I’m just beside myself with delight in having the opportunity to share them with you all. Check them up for a boot scootin’ good time!
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.
stephaniesmommybrain says
We’re into cowboys right now so these are going on the library list. They look really cute. 🙂 FYI for other cowboy lovin’ folks, you can watch original The Lone Ranger tv shows on hulu.com right now. My boys are enjoying their introduction to the Lone Ranger, Tonto and Silver!!