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Cowboys and Ranching
Bates, Michelle, Strangers at the
Stables, Usborne, 2009. (Grades 4-7)
Mysterious things are happening
at the stable when the owners have to leave for a while. There
is even an attempt to put the stable on fire.
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Durham, David Anthony, Gabriel's
Story, Doubleday, 2001. (Young Adult)
Set in the 1870s, the novel
tells the tale of Gabriel Lynch, an African American youth who
settles with his family in the plains of Kansas. Dissatisfied
with the drudgery of homesteading and growing increasingly disconnected
from his family, Gabriel forsakes the farm for a life of higher
adventure. Thus begins a forbidding trek into a terrain of austere
beauty, a journey begun in hope, but soon laced with danger and
propelled by a cast of brutal characters.
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Folsom, Franklin, Black Cowboy: The Life and Legend of George McJunkin, Roberts Flinehart, 1992. (Grades 5-8)
George McJunkin was a very determined freedom-loving man who led a dramatic and adventure-filled life in the cattle-raising parts of the Wild West. The changing social structure during McJunkin's lifetime, especially the position of Blacks, is an underlying theme.
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George-Warren, Holly, The Cowgirl Way: Hats
Off to America's Women of the West, Houghton-Miffline Books for Children, 2010. (Grades
4-6)
With dynamic photos and live quotes throughout, the author presents an
overview of the history of cowgirls up to the present. Since women
did much of the ranch work in the past, they helped break down
social and economic inequalities, and the Western states often
led the way in passing laws such as the right for women to own
land and vote. Includes anecdotes about Oklahoma's own Lucille
Mulhall, the first woman to be called a cowgirl in print. The book
also includes an overview of fashion and a look at today's cowgirls.
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Harris, Jim, Jack and the Giant: A Story
Full of Beans, Rising Moon, 2000. (Grades K-3)
Jack and his mother, Annie Okey-Dokey, live on
a ranch in Arizona. A giant has stolen all their cattle, and they're
forced to sell their last cow - which Jack trades for beans. The
magic beanstalk this time leads to an adobe castle in the sky,
where Jack encounters the giant cattle rustler Wild Bill Hiccup;
from then on, the story takes its predictable turns. Filled with
puns and twists, this re-telling is fun, though the humor sometimes
borders on the crass (rather than a goose laying golden eggs, there's
a buffalo laying golden chips). The cartoon-style art is big and
bright, though the exaggerated features and characteristics, reminiscent
of political cartoons, might intimidate the younger ones. Still,
those familiar with the original will enjoy Jack in this new setting,
and adults will appreciate some of the more sophisticated and sly
asides down on the range.
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Lowell, Susan, and
Randy Cecil, Little Red Cowboy Hat, Henry Holt, 2000. (Grades K-3)
Little Red
Riding Hood gets a Wild West twist in a funny version of the familiar
tale. This sticks pretty close to the plot, but with a tall-tale
twang to the telling and a favorable ending in which Grandma comes
in and saves Little Red.
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Murdoch, David Hamilton, Cowboy,
Eyewitness Books, DK Children, 2000. (Grades 4-7)
From ancient Mongolian herders,
to the cowpokes of the American West, to South American gauchos,
a photographic study that captures the history, lore, and lifestyles
of the world's cowboys.
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Pinkney, Andrea D., and Brian Pinkney,
Bill Pickett, Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy, Sandpiper, 1999. (Grades
PreK-3)
This storybook biography
traces Pickett's early life and eventual rise to the upper ranks
of professional rodeo fame and provides historical information
about black cowboys.
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Savage, Candace, Born to Be a Cowgirl: A Spirited Ride Through the Old West, Tricycle, 2004. (Grades 4-6)
This survey highlights the vigorous horsewomen who helped shape the West. Savage focuses on the daring girls and women who defied convention to ride horses, lasso cattle and buck broncos. Sidebars present the cowgirls in their own words. Handsomely tinted vintage photos showcase the power of these frmale cowgirls, wrestling calves to the ground and jumping over everything from fences to cars.
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Ulmer, Wendy K., and
Kenneth Spengler, A Campfire for Cowboy Billy, Rising Moon,
1997. (picture book, Grades K-3)
Grab your hats
and ride along with Cowboy Billy on his mail run to 44th Street.
Follow Billy on his adventurous journey as he weaves through an
imaginary landscape where he dodges rustlers on bicycles, sheriffs
directing stalled traffic, and chuck-wagon cooks dishing up hot
dogs. Billy's imaginative journey will delight cowboys, cowgirls
and tenderfeet of all ages.
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Willis, Jean, and Tony Ross, I
Want to Be a Cowgirl, Henry Holt, 2002. (Grades K-2)
In this playful ode to the
Wild West, a small girl would gladly exchange her big city life
for big sky country. Her three-piece-suited daddy seems bemused
by her longings, patiently trying to reclaim his converted
hat and the white shag rug (with a suspicious chaps-shaped
hole cut out of it). But "I don't want to be a girly girl /
Who likes to sit and chat. / I just want to be a cowgirl, Daddy,
/ What's so wrong with that?"
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Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
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