Customer Reviews

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (Reading Rainbow Books)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meanwhile back at the Ranch offers a delightful opportunity for teachers to introduce the concept of parallel story plots. The story is about a rancher who visits a sleepy little town. Back at the ranch his wife is having an exciting time by winning freezers, receiving a winning lotto ticket, becoming a movie star, striking oil, and receiving a visit from the President. The story moves from town to ranch and back again with the transition phrase..."Meanwhile...back at the ___. This can be used in a story line where the students write about the principal or their teacher attending a conference or meeting while back at the school many things are happening. This book provides a springboard for writing that students find irresistable. Middle schoolers and high schoolers find the pattern of the book delightful to follow and often invent extremely humorous situations that happen back at school. For a great writing activity, introduce this book to your class.

I read this story several years ago, and it still makes me laugh when I think about it today. Any book that has such long-lasting ability to make somebody smile is well worth checking out. The last scene, when the rancher brings his wife a box of Crackerjack from the town and then what she finds inside is a perfect ending to a delightful story.

This story is about a rancher and his wife. The rancher goes to the town of Sleepy Gulch while his wife stays home. The line "Meanwhile back..." occurs when going from the rancher to his wife. The wife is having exciting, fast paced adventures, while the rancher is having slow moving adventures. The book is very funny and enjoyable. It is a good read aloud for older children, ages 8 and up. Some of the humor is lost on smaller children.

I love this book! It is a wonderful book of surprises. Even a college class enjoyed listening to it being read. The humor of what happens in the town and what happens at the ranch will be sure to capture the attention of many. Young and Old!

What a flippin' hilarious story! I picked this up one day whilst waiting for an oil changed and I just about laughed my head off. What makes it all the better is that it is done with all the understate country simplicity you could possibly ask for as a husband and wife experience very different events one ordinary day. The pictures are sweet and Ms. Noble's comfortable pace make this extremely enjoyable.

A tall tale contrasting what happens to Rancher Hicks and his spouse Elna. Hicks goes to visit his very dull town and neighbors. . . MEANWHILE, back at the ranch, fantastic surprises await Elna (she wins a prize, her dog has puppies, inherits a winning lottery present, rebuilds the entire ranch, etc.). The back-and-forth contrast is amusing, but ultimately this is somewhat of a one-joke book, which may lose its appeal fairly quickly.

This is not the best book I've ever read, and I may donate it to the school.

The rancher goes to his "sleepy" town for excitement - and wow, what an exciting day he has! Why, there's a checker game that just made a king, and it only took two weeks! The whole town turned out to see a turtle cross the road!

Meanwhile, his wife "misses everything" because she's stuck at home while more and more farm animals give birth and boring stuff like lottery tickets and oil wells happen. Shucks.

There's not much to it, but it is pretty funny the first few times. I think it'll get more use in a classroom than in a fairly small family, though.

Fun book for adults & kinds. Teaches kids the experience between fast & slow--if read out loud well. Just a darn cute imaginative book.

I first saw this on "Reading Rainbow" years ago. It's one of my favorite children's books. I take this book with me when I substitute teach because it's usually not a book the kids have heard. They LOVE it! I do always have to explain what Cracker Jack is though!

I've read this book to my son over and over and he just loves it. Although the story is one of those rather slim two dimensional narratives, the wonderful illustrations make up for a lot and keep everyone amply amused. We love the contrast of the two different 'worlds'; the speed at which everything happens back at the farm versus in town. Hysterical stuff!