Product Description

Yee-haw! Fresh air, open prairie, and a galloping horse-what more could a girl want? Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, families headed west to build ranches and start new lives in the cattle business. Their daughters were raised on the range with an independent spirit and horses in their blood. Now modern-day cowgirls can come face-to-face with the revolutionary cowgirl style of yesteryear through first-person recollections and over 40 detail-rich, engaging photographs. The book is aimed at girls who love horses and who are hungry for heroines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #365677 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Released on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This survey highlights the vigorous horsewomen who helped shape the West. Savage (author of the adult title Cowgirls) focuses on the daring girls and women who defied convention to ride horses, lasso cattle and buck broncos. The historical context is unfortunately oversimplified, such as the explanation that people moved West because "the East became grimy and crowded." But lovers of horses and fans of cowboy lore will enjoy these tales about individual women. Rodeo star Fannie Sperry, born in Montana in 1887, learned how to ride as a toddler: her mother simply placed her on the back of a gentle horse and told her not to fall off. A cowboy relates how the best hand on the cattle drive turned out to be a girl who had camouflaged herself as a boy. Better still are sidebars that present the cowgirls in their own words. In one, a Texas cowgirl defies her father and enters a bull-riding competition in the first All Girl Rodeo, "but I broke my hand in nine places. I didn't get bucked off. I broke it gripping so hard." A host of handsomely tinted vintage photographs showcase the power of these female cowhands, seen here wrestling calves to the ground and jumping over everything from fences to cars. A browser's delight. Ages 8-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-With a smaller format and simpler text, but using many of the same outstanding illustrations found in her adult title, Cowgirls (Ten Speed, 1996; o.p.), Savage has created an outstanding book for young people. Children will encounter historical cattle ranchers and rodeo riders from Alberta to Texas, including Fannie Sperry, Evelyn Cameron, Calamity Jane, and Vera McGinnis. The different motives and passions of these cowhands are explored, including the "call of the West," love of horses and riding, and practical necessity. From riding gear, breaking wild horses, and daily ranch life to pioneer rodeoing, the range of this lifestyle is presented. The book also lends a perspective on the history of the West not always available to this audience. The attributed period photographs and reproductions of posters on every page, as well as boxed excerpts from letters and journals, complement a highly engaging text. Sepia tones and leather-textured framing for the illustrations add flavor to this nifty piece of bookmaking. An exemplary work.

Nancy Collins-Warner, Neill Public Library, Pullman, WA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. Everyone knows Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley, but there were many other strong-willed cowgirls in the Old West. Some were widows who managed family ranches after a husband's death, but many were independent, iconoclastic women who loved horses, open spaces, and ranching life. Some were even rodeo ropers, jumpers, and bronco riders. This overview draws on diaries, interviews, and other original sources to describe these women and their affinity for life on the range, which often banged up against rigid social taboos. The plentiful captioned photographs speak volumes about these remarkable U.S and Canadian pioneers. Boxed information provides such fascinating tidbits as the names of favorite horses and pictures of the brands used to identify women-owned cattle in Texas. A glossary, a list of sources, and a bibliography are appended. This enticing slice of western and women's history will fill a gap in most collections. Linda Perkins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

born to be acowgirl;a spirited ride through the old west
This book is a very informative, enjoyable trip through history about the beginnings of the cowgirls of the west and how they worked and lived during these times.
i really enjoyed this book!