Two Hirsute Hombres: Mustache Baby Meets His Match by Bridget Heos

BABY BILLY WAS BORN WITH A MUSTACHE.

USUALLY IT WAS A GOOD-GUY MUSTACHE, BUT OCCASIONALLY IT CURLED UP AT THE ENDS INTO A--WELL, YOU KNOW.

THEN ONE DAY, BABY JAVIER CAME TO TOWN.

Yep. There's a new hairy hombre in town, the Beard Kid, and when he rides up into Billy's corral on his three-wheeled cayuse, Mustache Baby knows that means there's bound to be a facial-haired shootout on Main Street, otherwise known as El Rancho de Billy.

The two hairy hombres have a face down, glaring into each other's eyes and taking each other's mettle. Mustache Baby resolves to teach Javier that there's not room for both of them in this town, or at least not in his backyard.

BUT THIS WASN'T JAVIER'S FIRST RODEO.

Hirsute Javier's beard gets spiky as he shows Billy how he can wrestle bears and chop down trees in jig time. Billy's mustache curls aggressively as he undertakes to prove that at best Javier is no better than sidekick material. It all comes down to a showdown in the wrestling ring, Barba Nino (a.k.a. Beard Baby) vs. the local hero, Mustache Baby.

Bridget Heos' second book about her mustachio-ed toddler, Mustache Baby Meets His MatchHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015), offers a humorous run-through of all the Old West cliches as the two follicularly precocious tots work out their rivalry to become Wild West pardners. Artist Joy Ang's comic digital illustrations extend the text, providing visual storytelling for kids too young to recognize the old Western movie tropes that will give their parents a chuckle. Youngsters will crave more of these two hairy-faced hombres as Billy the (Mustached) Kid and Barba Nino resolve to ride the range together.

This one begs to be read in tandem with its popular predecessor, Mustache Baby (see my September, 2013 review here).