When you visit My Favorite Children's Room this winter, you will find yourself in the wild, wild West!
Here is list of western and pioneer stories for our young readers.
The location designations are used at My Favorite Children's Room:
Picture Books: E-P - Preschool, E- 1 - 1st Grade, E-2 - Second Grade, E-3 -Third Grade, E-4 - Fourth Grade;
JF - Junior Fiction, YAF - Young Adult Fiction, Number - Nonfiction, JB - Biography
Books are filed by the author's last name after the location designations.
Slim and Miss Prim by Robert Kinerk;
IIllustrated by Jim Harris (E-3)
When rustlers capture the talkative Marigold Prim,
her cattle, and her ranch hand, they find her
incessant conversation too much to bear and
change their plans.
Jackalope by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens
Crummel (E-2)
A jackrabbit who wishes to be feared asks his fairy
godrabbit for horns and becomes the first jackalope,
but there's one condition: he must not tell lies.
Back
The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and
Susan Stevens Crummel (E-2)
When a tennis ball lands in a prairie dog town, the
residents find that their newfound frenzy for fuzz
creates a fiasco. You'll never think of a tennis ball
in the same way again.
Jack and the Giant: A Story Full of
Beans by Jim Harris (E-3)
Jack lives with his ma, Annie Okey-Dokey, on the
Bar None ranch. They are so poor, they must sell
their one remaining old milk cow named Fred.
Instead, Jack brings magic beans home. A
beanstalk grows, Jack climbs the beanstalk, meets
the giant, Wild Bill Hiccups. Well, you know how
the story ends...or do you?
(This book is also listed on the Spoof Tales page.)
Why Cowboys Sleep with Their Boots
On by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton (E-2)
A piece of Slim Jim's cowboy outfit comes up
missing each until he catches on.
There was a Coyote Who Swallowed a
Flea by Jennifer Ward and illustrated by Steve Gray
(E-1)
This story is told in a famiilar rhyme about a coyote
who does not know when to stop. Even after he
swallows the moon, he still wonders how long it will
be before breakfast is served.
Don't Touch My Hat by James Rumford( E-1)
Sheriff John believes he can fight crime only when
he's wearing his ten-gallon hat. However, after one
busy night of breaking up a brawl at the saloon,
catching robbers at the bank, rounding up cattle
rustlers and preventing a range war, he learns he did
it all without his hat but I can't you how. The moral of
this story is "it's not your hat, it's your heart" that
spells success.
Cowboy Slim written by Julie Danneberg;
illustrated by Margi /apple (E-1)
Slim, a wannabe cowboy, writes poetry and the
other cowboys don't think much of that--they know
what makes a real cowboy. Slim decides they're
right and heads for home but there is redemption for
him when he saves the day...and the herd.
Showdown at Lonesome Pellet by Paul
Ratz de Tagyos (E-2)
In Lonesome Pettet the Pointy Brothers are a bad
bunch. When Saladin arrives in town he guarantees
he'll clean up the town, the citizens aren't sure he
can get the job done. Then there is the showdown
and justice is served.
Dusty Locks and the Three Bears written
by Susan Lowell; illustrated by Randy Cecil (E-1)
The bear family take a walk when a dirty girl, Dusty
Locks, visits their cabin and makes herself right at
home--just like Goldilocks in her story.
(This book is also listed on the Spoof Tales page.)
The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit written by
Susan Lowell; illustrated by Jim Harris (E-1)
A different spin on a tale we all know about a slow
but steady tortoise and a fast over-confident
jackrabbit. The ending will make you smile. The
great illustrations are by one of my favorite
illustrators.
(This book is also listed on the Spoof Tales page.)
The Cowboy and the Black-eyed Pea
written by Tony Johnston; illustrated by Warren
Ludwig (E-3)
This story is a play on The Princess and the Pea
tale with a reverse angle. Farethee Well, the
daughter of a rich Texas rancher, is courted after
her father dies. To find a "real" cowboy she thinks
up a very clever plan. It all involves black-eyed
peas, lots of saddleblankets and sore bottoms or
not sore bottoms.
(This book is also listed on the Book Activities
page.)
Cowlick written by Christin Ditchfield; illustrated
by Rosalind Beardshaw (E-P)
This fun story isn't exactly a "western" story but it
is about a cow! Wonder where those funny morning
hairdos come from? If you know a cow, watch out!
(This book is also listed on the Family Stories
page.)
Cowboy Charlie by Jeanette Winter (JB)
As a young boy, Charles M. Russell (1892-1926)
had a dream of being a cowboy in the West.
When he was fifteen years old that dream came
true when he left New Orleans and lived the rest of
his life in Montana. Russell had another passion
as an artist who drew and painted everthing he
saw and now we benefit by his visual history of the
West.

Visit the C. M. Russell Museum of Great Falls,
MT, for more information and exhibits of Russell's
artwork.
Ten-Gallon Bart written Susan Stevens
Crummel; illustrated by Dorothy Donohue (E-1)
Ten-Gallon Bart has been the sheriff of Dog City for
a long time and he has been a good one. He's
decided it's time to retire and wouldn't you know that
the mean and bad Billy the Kid is headed to Dog
City on Ten-Gallon Bart's very last day on the job.
He says he's done with the job but all his friends
know Bart is the only one who can save the town
and they promise to back him up. Billy the Kid is
shown the error of his ways and Dog City is
peaceful again. Ten-Gallon Bart does retire and
you'll never guess who the new sheriff is. (2006)
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