Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse

January 4, 2010
It's her birthday and Nellie Sue is hoping for a horse. Her parents have gotten enough hints: she wears cowgirl duds from head to toe, uses words like “moseyed,” drops her g's (as in “Yee-haw! We've got herdin' to do!”), and has elaborate plans for converting the family home into a barn and paddock. Instead, Nellie Sue gets a bicycle: “All eyes were on me, and I felt like I swallowed a hay bale.” Debut author Janni and Avril (Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School
) clearly appreciate their heroine's fantasies, but don't always succeed in getting inside her head. Avril's pink-hued watercolor cartoons have a birthday-card geniality, giving little sense of either an internal drama or a romantic vision of life on the range. The extent to which Nellie Sue takes the bike-as-horse fantasy makes for some overly precious lines (“I walked over to her with my palm out flat so she could get a good sniff,” she says, approaching the bike), but readers should identify with her longing, as well as her powerful sense of imagination. Ages 3–5.

February 1, 2010
PreS-Gr 2-Cowgirl wannabe Nellie Sue is convinced she'll get a horse for her birthday. In her imagination, she already is feeding, watering, lassoing, and riding her dream steed as she does routine chores on the big day. When her parents proudly present her with her new horsea bikeshe is taken aback but then gamely approaches "Beauty" and saddles up. As she and her bike survive a crash and repair, Nellie Sue finds her imagination is strong enough for her to see her bike as a horse and she happily pedals into the sunset. The child's fresh voice and twang will have children cheering as she starts out making the best of a situation and then finds she is perfectly happy with the outcome. The bright, sketchy, watercolor and ink illustrations are suffused with pinks and purples and capture a child who tries to live up to cowgirl ideals of helping others, looking on the bright side, and being strong. The lesson on dealing positively with disappointment is gently delivered. Perfect for one-on-one sharing or reading alone, this is a cowgirl story that readers will take to heart."Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2010
Grades K-2 Nellie Sue is a self-described cowgirl from head to toe, and all she wants for her birthday is a horse. She gets ready for her party by dressing in riding gear, from a pink cowboy hat to pink chaps. Before the celebration, though, she has to complete her chores, including filling her dog Gingers trough (his water bowl), and she drops not-so-subtle horsey hints to her parents along the way. After lunch, there is still no horse, but there are johnnycakesbirthday cupcakeswith a herd of her friends. Finally, Nellie Sue gets her present, but it has handlebars and wheels where hoofs should be. Although she is disappointed, she trades her cowboy hat for a helmet and discovers that her new horse is perfect for riding the trails. This entertaining picture book features a spunky protagonist, whose folksy narrative delivers a supportive message about the rewards of imaginative play and finding unexpected fun. The colorful, animated illustrations, filled with amusing details, set Nellie Sues cowgirl-imagined world in familiar, contemporary settings, all touched with plenty of pink.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2010
Birthday girl and self-described cowgirl Nellie Sue "needs" a horse; instead, her parents give her a pink bicycle ("I wasn't real keen on ridin' a horse with wheels where hooves ought to be"). The book's humor comes from the contrast between Nellie Sue's cowpoke imaginings and her reality, exhibited in the energetic illustrations of her suburban home and family.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)