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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Ulmer | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Illustrated with vivid backgrounds, this book tells the story of a young aspiring cowboy in the middle of a big city and his imagination.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2Influenced by the cowboy stories of his Grandpa who has recently died, Billy rides an imaginary pony express through the streets and parks of his New York City neighborhood. The author combines old western and modern urban descriptions in her text and includes sympathetic adults who support Billy's fantasy. Gouache illustrations in bold colors and with cockeyed perspectives enhance the fantasy. When the boy stops for the breakdown of a wagon train or when he outsmarts a gang of bandits, the pictures show a truck with a flat tire or tough older boys whizzing by on bicycles. Billy's grandfather has told him an old legend in which stars are the campfires of people who have died. When the child's adventure is over, he climbs to the roof of his building to say good night to his Grandpa's campfire, assuring young readers that the man lives on in his grandson's memories. This is a useful addition to collections in which cowboy fantasies such as Chris Van Allsburg's Bad Day at Riverbend (Houghton, 1995) are popular or where stories about dealing with the death of a beloved relative are needed.Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Ulmer's sincere, rather sentimental debut children's book, an imaginative boy remembers his beloved late grandfather as he goes about his day. Bent on delivering a letter he's written, Billy rides his stick horse through the city streets, pretending he's on a pony-express run. As he makes his way through canyons (composed of skyscrapers) and Badlands (a giant park complete with "Big Kid Bandits"), his thoughts intermittently turn to his grandfather. He recalls watching the stars with the kind man, who told Billy, "Stars are the warm, twinkling campfires of special souls telling someone on earth how much they still love them." And it's his grandfather's advice that prompts Billy to hide from the Bandits (menacing older boys on bikes). Back at home, the young cowboy heads for the roof, where he spies Grandfather's "campfire" and thanks him for the "trick." Spengler (How Jackrabbit Got His Very Long Ears) adds a good passel of whimsy with stylized gouache art, and offers some playfully skewed perspectives (e.g., the "canyon" in southwestern shades of pine and terra-cotta towering above Billy as a car with a longhorns hood ornament crowds the foreground) as well as diverting extras (like a reappearing mouse, dressed in either cowboy or Indian garb). Though the juxtaposition of plot and memories make for a rather bumpy ride (and the letter's recipient goes unknown), this story may well spark a reassuring adult-child dialogue about the death of a loved one. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In the midst of the city, Billy rides his stick horse, Splinter, across an imagined western landscape complete with newspaper tumbleweeds, traffic-directing sheriffs, and bicycle-riding Big Kid Bandits. He returns to his apartment roof to sit under the stars and remember his grandfather and his stories of the Old West. Curvy gouache illustrations have energy and pizzazz. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ages 6^-8. Grandpa's gone--to light one of those campfires in the nighttime sky, as he would have put it--and young Billy misses him. But today, Billy has a mission, a letter to carry to the mailbox. Clad in a big white hat, chaps, a vest, a Navajo ribbon shirt, boots, and spurs, Billy clomps and jingles down the hall, takes the elevator to the street, and on his trusty stick horse, Splinter, gallops through the park to the mailbox, circling around a stalled wagon train, chowing down a hot dog from a curbside chuck wagon, and avoiding a gang of bicycle-riding Big Kid Bandits. Spengler places his urban cowboy in a crowded, undulant cityscape, with rolling sidewalks and skewed high-rises to keep sight lines short and the visual center tightly focused; Billy trots along alertly, paced by a white mouse, who alternates buckaroo outfits with fringed buckskins and feather headdresses. Mission accomplished, Billy rides to his apartment roof to watch the stars come out and send Grandpa his love. Ulmer lightens Billy's grief without trivializing it, and children, especially city children, will enjoy Billy's cowboy's-eye view of his urban neighborhood. --John Peters