Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cowboy Slim by Julie Danneberg


Poor Cowboy Slim... He's a young boy who wants to do the round up with the older cowboys, but he has troubles all along. He even ends up in the saddle backwards!

Charlesbridge Publishing sent me this softcover picture book to review. I live in cowboy country, so I was sure it would be fun to read.

Cowboy Slim loves to write poetry. I know my bookstore has one whole bookcase filled with cowboy poetry, so this isn't really an oddity. But the other cowboys think he's wimpy because he'd rather do poetry than pursue the good talents you need on the range. Like roping, riding a horse well, and using a whip to keep the animals in line.

Of course, Cowboy Slim has lots of calamities and has to be rescued several times. You begin to wonder if he's ever going to make it as a cowboy.

Then there's stampede and all the other cowboys (and cowgirl) end up almost run down by the cows. Cowboy Slim catches up to the herd and finds that if he uses his poetry to talk to them, they calm down.

Slim's not the perfect cowboy yet, but he is fittin' in a bit better. And now the other cowpokes are starting to do some writing, too.

The illustrations are by Margot Apple, and just right for the 4-7 year old readers. This would also be a fun book for reading aloud. It's for sale right now at your local bookstore.

Share a little history with your child and let them learn about riding the range. It even has a glossary at the back for the buckaroo talk!

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