Customer Reviews

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is based on a true story about Bob Lemmons, a African American Cowboy. The pictures are outstanding representations of the story. It is a tale of a cowboy and his ability to ride with wild horses. He has the ability to lead the horses into thinking that he is one of them. Yes, a wild horse! This book could be used as an introduction to biographies or cowboys for young people. I would read it to 5-10 year old children. It is wonderfully written and would be a asset to any school or public library.

Although the writing is not very good it makes up for it by having a story that goes nowhere and has no real ending. Being a mother of two black boys I am alway looking for books that have black charactors in them--so I was quite pleased to buy a black cowboy book for them. This books disappoints in almost everyway. The purple prose is so overwrought that you feel as though you are reading a new line of pulp romances for children. The story involves an ex-slave enslaving wild horses while wishing he himself could leave this life and let his horse ride free into the distant horizon. In the midst of the book we are introduced to a lively wild colt only to have this colt immmediatly bit by a snake and die. It is this tragity that unsettles the herd of horses so that the mounted cowboy can take over as alpha horse and lead them to a waiting corral to be broken by the cheering white cowboys to whom he never speaks.
On the plus side the illustration's muddly watercolors are pleasing to the eye.

I bought this for a young African American girl. There seem to be few role models in equestrian topics. Arrived quickly and in great shape.

Julius Lester is one of my favorite writers. His words capture the imagination and take you for a ride. He has a way of bringing you into his stories and characters,allowing you to smell, hear, see, listen, and feel the setting and events. Great for classroom use introducing writing genres and reading strategies; sensory images, character development, visualizing, metaphor use, similes,etc. etc.

I enjoyed the story and the illustrations, not as much as John Henry, but I LOVED that one. I have used this book with 4th-8th graders for teaching a variety of things, and it is rare to find a story about black cowboys in general. I would recommend it for anyone who would like to have a collection of stories with black main characters. I added it to my collection for use during black history month and my own children enjoyed it also.