Cowboys: Roundup on an American Ranch - Hardcover

Gr. 4^-6. Anderson and Ancona follow the Eby family, and their hired cowboys, as they go about their spring roundup, gathering their 800 cattle and driving them into the ranch. Everyone in the family participates fully, including 13-year-old Leedro and 11-year-old Colter, who are shown riding, lassoing calves, and even driving a jeep. Anderson writes with detail and humor ("The cowboys begin pushing fifty or sixty cows, trying to keep them together even though each cow has a favorite direction" ) and uses quotations from the cowboys to invigorate the text and add flavor as well as information. The drive looks like satisfying work, but neither the words nor the pictures romanticize the task. Even the ultimate destination of the cattle is acknowledged: "You learn early that we raise 'em to sell 'em. You have to accept it, but it still hurts." Whether it is a close-up of a cow or a panoramic view of cattle, cowboys, and horses, Ancona catches it all in crisp color photographs bursting with energy. Younger children will enjoy hearing this read aloud; older ones will dream of living a cowboy's life like Colter and Leedro. The final page features an excellent glossary. Susan Dove Lempke

For a firsthand look at life on a working ranch, cowpoke wanna-bes should belly up to this thoroughly engaging photo-essay. Longtime collaborators Anderson and Ancona (The American Family Farm) spent two weeks with the Eby family in New Mexico, chronicling the hustle and bustle of spring roundup. Shadowing the Eby boys-ages 11 and 13-their parents and the hired hands, Anderson's smooth narrative and Ancona's vivid photographs capture the drama and drudgery of life on the range. A couple of scenes may be disturbing to particularly sensitive readers-there's a somewhat dark photo of a partially decomposed calf killed by a predator, and an up-close look at branding- but the matter-of-fact presentation helps put the material in perspective. From breaking a high-spirited filly to riding through the sagebrush in search of straying cattle, this is the real thing, a slice of the American West that will quickly lasso the imaginations of young buckaroos. Ages 7-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.