BBR-Cowboy Small

Teaching kids about farming and ranching is something that I totally enjoy.  I think every kid should know that their food comes from the ground and NOT a grocery store or factory.  My boys have a collection of books that talk about farming and ranching.  Some are stories about things we grow, but many are not.   This is the first in a series of book reviews, called the Book Barn Review, our family plans to do, to help you find accurate books with stories about farming and ranching.

The absolute favorite book of our family was given to us by a family that owns ground that we farm. 

Apparently, Cowboy Small was our 95+year old landlord son’s favorite book when he was little.  We have the original copy printed in 1949 from her.  When we received this book as a gift, our oldest knew he was a cowboy, and since our last name is Small it was quickly the most requested bedtime story for what seemed like a year.

We almost wore the book out reading it, so we went online to see if we could find another copy.  We were excited to find the Lois Lenski book had been reprinted and made into a board book!

The book talks about how Cowboy Small feeds and grooms his horse Cactus and helps the older cowboys roundup the cattle.

Unfortunately, there were some things that were changed that disappointed the boys:

• Cowboy Small no longer sleeps under the stars.

• He doesn’t brand the cattle with the Bar S Brand.

• The inside cover of the old book had wonderful pictures with a glossary of terms for cowboy attire and tack including the parts of a saddle. 

But our favorite line is still there: “Cowboy Small hits the dust.” And on the next page, “Cowboy Small rides again!”

Do your kids have a favorite farm book I should share?  Let me know about it!

-A Kansas Farm Mom