Tall In The Saddle! Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range by Lori Mortensen

Dawgnabbit, Dawg! What'll they think of next?

Paging through the latest Kit 'n' Kaboodle mail order catalog, Cowpoke Clyde comes across an ad for a two-wheeled velocipede. It's supposed to be fun! It promises adventure! How hard can it be?

IT WOULDN'T EAT. IT WOULDN'T STRAY.
IT WOULDN'T BUCK OR BITE OR NEIGH!

The shiny red bike finally arrives. It's everything the catalog promised--sturdy handlebars, steel body, rubber tires! Clyde is excited. He can ride any cayoose on four legs. Two wheels ought to be like a walk in the park.

But anybody who has learned to ride a bike knows it's not quite so easy. Horses don't turn over and they already know how to stop. And the range is no easy-ridin' sidewalk. There are hazards on those trails!

AS HE ROLLED, HE PICKED UP SPEED
ON HIS STRANGE, NEWFANGLED STEED,
WIBBLIN, WOBBLIN' DOWN THE ROAD,
RIGHT STRAIGHT AT A . . . HORNY TOAD!

The almost roadkill toad skitters away just in the nick of time, but up pops a jackrabbit right in Clyde's path. It's a good thing the hare is fast on his feet, because Clyde's are plumb off the pedals!

BRAKIN'? STEERIN'? HOW'D IT WORK?
RIDIN' BIKES WAS PLUMB BERSERK!

Clyde does a wheelie and is airborne as he barely misses a porcupine. He crashes the bike, gives it a disgusted kick in the fender, and dustin' off his Stetson in disgust, he and Dawg set out afoot for the bunkhouse.

But hoofin' it back, Clyde gets to thinkin'. He's busted more'n a few ornery broncos in his time. He's no cowardly cowpoke quitter, and he's gonna conquer this contraption!

Back in the saddle, he's startin' to get the hang of it. Dirty Dawg is lovin' it as he dashes up a ridge and Clyde starts the downhill run. But then he spots some critters grazin' right in his path. It's a whole herd of bighorn sheep! But daringly Dawg sprints ahead and does his thing, scattering the sheep as only a shaggy sheepdog can do.

Whee-ew!

SOON, CLYDE WAS RIDIN' LIKE A PRO
IN SOME TWO-WHEELED RODEO.

With a big YA-HOO, Clyde and Dawg are riding the range in Lori Mortensen's latest tale of the two wrangler pals, Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2016).

Kids who are just learning to ride a bike and those familiar with Mortensen's earlier Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg (review here) will chuckle at this forthcoming romp on the range, especially the final page in which they will see Cowpoke Clyde has rigged up a trailer for his new bike so Dawg can ride the range on wheels as well. Artist Michael Allen Austin is again the hired hand, back to proffer the comic artwork, done in desert duns, rusts, and tans, with perspective which works all the angles and with the lean and lanky cowpoke and his shaggy sidekick just as quirky and quixotic as ever.

Stetsons off to Mortensen and Austin, two old picture book hands, back on the trail again!

HI YO, Maybelline! Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate DiCamillo

LEROY NINKER WORKED AT THE BIJOU DRIVE-IN THEATER CONCESSION STAND.

HE SAID, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

HE SAID, "EXTRA BUTTER ON THAT?"

HE ALSO SAID "YIPPIE-I-OH."

Former toaster thief Leroy Ninker has gone straight, sublimating his love for toast dripping in butter by serving up extra-buttery popcorn at the local drive-in.

But Leroy has another mania, more powerful than his taste for toast.

Leroy longs to be a cowpoke. He has a ten-gallon hat that dwarfs his diminutive frame. He has cowboy boots on his feet and a coiled lasso at his belt. And on double-feature Wednesdays, Leroy is enthralled with those images of bigger-than-life cowboy heroes on the silver screen.

THE COWBOYS WERE MEN WHO CAST LONG SHADOWS AND KNEW HOW TO FIGHT INJUSTICE. THEY WERE MEN WHO WERE NEVER, EVER AFRAID.

"YIPPEE-I-OH." LEROY WHISPERED. "THAT'S THE LIFE FOR ME."

But Leroy is missing part of the complete cowpoke package--the cow horse.

With dreams of a spirited steed named Tornado, Leroy sets out, on foot of course, to find his mount. What he finds is Maybelline.

Maybelline has five teeth, a swayed back, and a lotta miles on her, but the old girl's got quite a few gallops left in her git-go. She comes cheap, but she comes with three stipulations from her former owner, Patty LaMarque.

"THERE ARE THREE ITEMS YOU GOT TO REMEMBER. ITEM ONE IS THAT MAYBELLINE IS THE KIND OF HORSE WHO ENJOYS THE HECK OUT OF A COMPLIMENT. YOU GOT TO SWEET TALK MAYBELLINE, UNDERSTAND?

>ITEM TWO IS THAT MAYBELLINE IS A HORSE WHO LIKES A LOT OF GRUB. A. LOT. OF. GRUB.

ITEM THREE IS THAT MAYBELLINE IS THE KIND OF HORSE WHO GETS LONESOME QUICK. DO NOT LEAVE MAYBELLINE ALONE FOR LONG, OR YOU WILL RUE AND REGRET THE DAY."

Leroy promises, but from his first giddy-up, he comes to realize that Patty's warnings were serious. Sweet talk comes easily to the snookered Leroy, but after he's cooked up all the spaghetti and tomato sauce in his house for one feeding, he realizes that Maybelline is like to eat him out of house and home, And when the well-fed Maybelline proves too large for the door to his tiny domicile, Leroy loyally beds down on the doorstep to keep his noble mount company all night. Yippie-i-oh.

But a torrential rainstorm unloads right over Leroy and Maybelline, and when the loyal Leroy dashes inside for an umbrella for his horse's head, Maybelline takes off for points unknown. Has Leroy lost his nag and his dream of riding the purple sage into the sunset?

Two-time Newbery author Kate DiCamillo works her wry wit and sweet literary magic again in her latest beginning chapter book, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume One(Candlewick Press, 2014), a new title in her notable Mercy Watson series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive. Little Leroy is a delightfully positive character, devoted to his dream and determined to please his persnickety mount at all costs, Another spirited and humorous tale of the denizens of Deckawoo Drive in which a pig and an old nag share their thing for tea and buttery toast together, this new one has a lot of appeal to young readers, aided by the presence of Chris Van Dusen's wonderfully comic western-styled drawings and page decorations, a design which gives this cowpoke and cayuse tale tons of pizzazz for primary graders just venturing into chapter books. "Readers will have a hootenanny of a good time," says The Bulletin for Children's Books.

Watch for the next exciting entry from the Deckawoo Drive posse, Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume Two, forthcoming from the dynamic duo of DiCamillo and Dusen in August, 2015.

Wash-Out in the OK Corral: Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg by Lori Mortensen

Cowpoke Clyde has it all under control. Cowboy bean soup is simmering on the stove, the cabin is clean as a hound's tooth, and even the horseflies have been shown the door. But just as soon as he rares back to put his boots up, he realizes that he's short one chore:

THEN RIGHT BEHIND HIS COOKIN' POT,
HE SPIED ONE THING HE'D PLUMB FORGOT:
OL' DAWG, HIS FAITHFUL, SNORIN' FRIEND,
ALL CAKED WITH MUD FROM END TO END.

YEE-HAW! Time to get back on the job and wash that dang dog.

But like making rabbit stew, first you got to catch the critter!

Dawg is no dope, and when he sees the bathtub gettin' filled, he's outa there, knockin' the beans off the stove, runnin' right through the chicken coop, and soon fur and feathers and fleas are all a-flyin'. Clyde swings his lasso and hooks--a hog!

SOON CHICKENS, FLEAS, AND ONE FAT HOGWERE GETTING SOAKED INSTEAD OF DAWG.

But Cowpoke Clyde is no quitter. He tries coaxing Dawg into the tub with a handful of jerky and a big bone. Dawg demurs, but Clyde's bait attracts ...CATS! He tries tricking Dawg into the wagon for a ride, but the mule gets spooked, the broke harness comes unhitched, and Clyde lands in the muddy suds with all the critters--chickens, cats, hog, mule, and of course, the horseflies.

Cowpoke Clyde's once-spiffy spread is a mess. All the critters are roamin' in the gloamin' as the sun goes down, and... Dawg is still dirty. Clyde eyes his tin bathtub and decides that he's the one who needs the suds worse'n anybody!

Lori Mortenson's latest, sudsy saga Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013) is a jolly rhyming romp of cowpoke couplets which leaves a soakin' Clyde croonin' to the moon and Dawg deciding at last to join him for a nocturnal howl in the suds. Michael Allen Austin's vivid comic illustrations rise mightily to this quirky washout, with ample artistic perspective play which has a horrified hog in full-face flight page right, and a crazed cat poking into the frame from the lower right-hand page corner, as the rest of the felines spill the buckets of bath water which flow over the frame, page left. Even a rubber ducky gets into the critter crowd scene in this frisky frolic forthcoming in mid-May. More fun than a bathtub full of monkeys!

Cowdog: Charlie the Ranch Dog by Ree Drummond

MY NAME IS CHARLIE. I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY. I'M A RANCH DOG.

THIS IS SUZIE. SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND.

WE SURE DON'T LOOK MUCH ALIKE, DO WE?

BUT, THEN, ALL THAT STUFF DOESN'T REALLY MATTER ANYHOW.

TALL OR SHORT, SLOW OR FAST, TINY EARS OR FLOPPY EARS, THERE'S PLENTY OF WORK AROUND HERE FOR BOTH OF US.

Ye-ep. A ranch dog's work is never done. And in Charlie's case, there's a good reason. Between breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and naps along the way, Charlies never gets around to doing much besides sniffing under the porch for intruders and finding a shady spot to close his eyes for a few minutes.

First chore--Chasing Daisy the cow out of the yard. Charlie makes sure that Suzie takes care of that.

I LIKE TO GIVE HER A CHANCE TO SHINE NOW AND THEN.)

After Mama serves up a bacon-accented breakfast, Charlie is off to help her in the garden, where he snores while Suzie helps dig carrots.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ! HUH? WHAT DID I MISS? I MUST HAVE ACCIDENTALLY CLOSED MY EYES.

Charlie comes to just in time for lunch. And then it's really time for action. Daisy has invaded the garden and gotten into the radishes again!

RRRRRRRRRRR! OOOOOOWW! OOOOOOH! THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HADN'T BEEN HERE!

Yessir! Charlie is a legend in his own mind. The savior of the ranch, taking care of everybody without ever breaking a sweat! Ree Drummond's Charlie the Ranch Dog follows her hypo-active Bassett buddy through his day as a courageous cowdog, aided prodigiously by the amusing illustrations of the notable Diane DeGroat. Kids will love the contrast between the quasi-philosophical Charlie and the frenetic terrier pup Suzie and will get a real giggle out of watching Suzie's efforts to vanquish a chipmunk who invades the scene on almost every page. Droll, ironic hyperbole is Charlie's style, much like his alter ego for older readers, Hank the Cowdog: 20th Anniversary Edition (See all Humor Books) in Robert Erickson's long-running series. Drummond, known to some adult readers as the Pioneer Woman blogger, here takes her real-life blog buddy into her venture into the world of picture books.

Summertime Tales: Cowboy Camp and How I Spent My Summer Vacation

It's June and those lazy days of summer vacation are spreading across the land. Here are a couple of picture books which celebrate the splendid days of summer.

In Tammi Sauer's Cowboy Camp, her hero Avery knows he's in big trouble as soon as he reports for camp.

"He looked at everyone else at Cowboy Camp and knew he was all wrong. His belt buckle was too big. His hat was too small. His boots were too red. Even his name was wrong. The other boys had tough names like Hank or Jimmy Jean. Who ever heard of a cowboy named Avery?"

Things only get worse as the day progresses. Cowpoke chow makes Avery sick, and he has to give up grits and beans for crackers and cheese. When the tenderfeet tack up in the stables, Avery turns out to be allergic to his horse, and their leader Cowboy Dan, has a saddle up a steer for him to ride. At lasso lessons Avery can't make a loop to save his lariat and winds up with a case of rope burn, reducing his roping options to a wimpy length of yarn.

Around the campfire that night Avery broods over his misfit status. Suddenly a huge, scary figure appears out of the black night. "I'm Black Bart and I'm here to put an end to this 'Cowboy Camp.'" Thinking fast, Avery protests. "Pardon me, sir. This isn't Cowboy Camp. It's, er, ...Space Camp."

Black Bart is dubious, and puts Avery through all of the cowboy tests--beans, riding, roping--all of which Avery flunks, even spitting out the beans all over Bart. "Rustlin' rattlesnakes," snaps Bart, "I must've made a wrong turn somewhere. I gotta go."

Cowboy Dan claps Avery on the back. "Avery, you are about the bravest cowboy I ever laid eyes on. No one but a real cowboy could outsmart Black Bart the way you just did." The unconventional cowpoke has finally earned his spurs, and Avery is at last a happy camper.


In author-illustrator Mark Teague's skillful hands, his How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Dragonfly Books) tells another tall tale of summer fun out West.

Walter Bleff's teacher, seated properly at her desk, wearing her prim updo and spectacles, dutifully listens to his report on what he did on his summer vacation. Walter, however, is not one of your pedestrian essayists. He begins by reciting how his parents shipped him off to his Aunt Fern's ranch to bring him down to earth a bit.

"Your imagination is getting too wild.
It will do you some good to relax for a while."

Walter gets no chance to relax. As soon as he puts boots on the ground, he's kidnapped by a rowdy bunch of rough riders, who put the tenderfoot to work as apprentice cowhand. "Kid Bleff," unlike Avery, shows a real talent for punchin' cows, learning to rope, ride, and eat beans with the best of them.

But when Aunt Fern invites the whole band back to her spread for a real cowboy barbecue, the herd begins to stampede, heading right for the party. Quick-witted Kid Bleff snatches up a red tablecloth and making like a matador, turning the terrifying herd away to save the day. As the somewhat taken-aback teacher listens to the thrilling conclusion of his essay, we see Walter, still holding a longhorn by his nose ring, wistfully thinking, "I can't wait for show-and-tell!"

Teague's characteristic rounded comic characters are as full of personality as ever, and his bouncy rhyming text carries this summertime story along to a rip-snortin' conclusion.