Pity poor Ned. He's a right fine little cowpoke, but life has been a bit of a rough ride lately. For one thing, his favorite toy has gone missing. And his mother has uprooted him and moved the family off to different pastures. In his new hometown, a bully is making Ned's life miserable. Never fear, however. Ned has the spirit of the Old West in him. Wielding a garden hose instead of a lariat, he puts that bully in his place and then makes things right with his mom. Home on the Bayou is a solid romp for any kid--buckaroo or not--who has had to deal with adversity.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3?Poor Cowboy Ned must leave his beloved West and go with his mother to live with Granpa on the bayou. Nothing about this move appeals to the child, and he behaves rudely to Mom. Each day at his new school things deteriorate, thanks to the bullying of Big Head Ed. To make matters worse, Ned's lariat was ruined in the move and he must use a garden hose as a substitute. He tries to console himself with happy thoughts of his wandering Daddy. When Ed takes Ned's hose, the protagonist's attitude takes the 180-degree turn that readers have been waiting for. He foils the villain, and then he apologizes to his Mom. Karas's colored-pencil over watercolor illustrations seem more somber than those in Sharon P. Denslow's On the Trail with Miss Pace (Four Winds, 1995), using more shaded tones. Ned truly does have many unhappy elements in his life, and the pictures reflect this fact while at the same time showing a bouncy good humor. A fine addition to books about schoolyard bullies and the pains of moving, such as Rosemary Wells's Timothy Goes to School (Dial, 1981) and Marjorie W. Sharmat's Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport (Macmillan, 1980).?Ruth Semrau, formerly at Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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