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The Toughest Cowboy: Or How the Wild West Was Tamed
by John Frank
Available from Powells Used Books
$7.95
on 8-31-2008
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Features
ISBN Number: 9780689834615
Subtitle: Or How the Wild West Was Tamed
Author: Pullen, Zachary
Illustrator: Pullen, Zachary
Author: Pullen, Zachary
Author: Frank, John
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Subject: Children's 4-8, Picturebooks
Subject: Children's 4-8, Fiction, General
Subject: Animals, Dogs
Subject: Humorous Stories
Subject: Westerns
Copyright: 2004
Edition Description: B221
Publication Date: August 2004
Cover Type: Hardcover
Grade Level: Children/juvenile
Written in: English
Illustrations: YES
Number of Pages: 48
Book Size: 10.32x10.36x.41 in. 1.12 lbs.
Children's Book Type: Picture / Wordless
Age Level: 6-8
When cowboy Grizz Brickbottom decides to get a dog, the only one he can get is a poodle named Foofy — a pampered pooch that's never herded cattle. Before long, Grizz and his buddies are busy playing fetch, brushing Foofy's fur, and changing their own lives completely. Full color.
Review: "With a mixture of tall-tale exaggeration and the plot of a silly campfire yarn, this tongue-in-cheek story about a quartet of tough cowboys may appeal more to grown-ups than to the picture-book crowd. Frank (The Tomb of the Boy King) peoples the story with adult characters and strikes a hyperbolic tone (the hero, Grizz, 'drank a quart of Tabasco sauce a day, flossed his teeth with barbed wire, and kept a rattlesnake in his bedroll to cool his feet at night'). Unfortunately, the book's story line seems contrived to deliver the theme — you can teach an old cowpoke new tricks. When Grizz brings Foofy home, the meticulously groomed poodle changes the lives of all four cowboys as the canine wins over the skeptical fellows and they develop new skills in caring for her. While dog lovers may understand the cowhands' change of heart, the text never charts the characters' development enough to pave the way for their metamorphosis. It's first-time illustrator Pullen's oil paintings, featuring the characters' close-up animated faces and reflecting a broad humor, that chronicle the men's transformation. The large-sized heads of the characters seem to combine the jowly faces of grizzled B-movie character actors with the kind of caricatures found in political cartoons. Through the artist's portraits, readers can almost watch the men's hard edges soften in the company of their new pet. Ages 6-8." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review: "Tall tales this enjoyable are hard to find....Readers will return to this one again and again to catch all of the humor and nuances of both the text and illustrations....suited to independent reading and sharing aloud." Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA. School Library Journal
Review: "Pullen's outrageously rude pictures are a mix of cartoon and caricature, but like Frank's text, they owe a great debt to Mel Brooks' movie Blazing Saddles. Mercifully, Pullen's cowpokes don't eat beans around a campfire, but they sure do pick their noses a lot!" Michael Cart, Booklist Synopsis: How do you tame the roughest, toughest pack of cowboys to ever ride the open range?
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