Description:
“In the bare bones beginning, Armadillo’s ears were tall as a jack rabbit’s and wide as a steer’s horns.” With such wonderful ears, Armadillo loved nothing better than spying on other animals and telling tales about what he heard. Then Armadillo gets an earful all his very own.
This humorous tale is a lyrical lesson in just how fast stretching the truth is likely to cause one humongous armadillo ruckus. As Armadillo peeps and creeps, children will giggle, and also learn a basic lesson in thoughtfulness and respect.
A blue norther’s a-blowin’, and Miss Billy Armadilly is hankering to make a pot of chili! Only she needs to fix it all by herself because Tex the tarantula, Mackie the bluebird, and Taffy the horned toad are too busy to lend a hand. Well, she’ll eat it all by herself, too! But then the smell of chili cooking in the cold night brings her friends one by one back to Miss Billy’s door.
What’s a lady armadillo to do?
Helen Ketteman’s Texas-style spin on “The Little Red Hen” is joined by the Southwestern warmth of Will Terry’s paintings for a spicy and satisfying story time.
Miss Billy Armadilly skit-skat-skittered down the lane. "A blue norther's a-blowin' and my old, cold bones are rattling for a pot of hot armadilly chili," she said.
She was gathering beetles when her tarantula friend Tex, came by.
"Hey Tex! I'm making a pot if armadilly chili!" said Miss Billy. "How's about tapping your toes this way and helping me gather a boxful of beetles?"
*Texas 2X2 Reading List
*2006 North Carolina Book Awards Nominee
Reviews
“Little Red Hen goes to Texas. A Blue Norther puts Miss Billie Armadilly in the mood for some chili, but when she asks Tex the tarantula, Mackie the bluebird, and Taffy the horned toad to help gather the requisite beetles, jalepenos, and prickly pear, they make excuses. So, it’s “No cookin’ with Billie, no sharin’ the chili!” when the dish’s scent draws the miscreants to her door. But despite its savor, the chili tastes “flat as a Texas prairie” to Miss Billie – until her own now-repentant buddies reappear, bearing dishes of their own, to share it. Terry debuts with big Southwestern scenes, laid out in swirls and curls of rich color, through which his characters, decked out in western wear (that’s a Stetson and four pair of boots for Tex), saunter stylishly until gathering at Billie’s hacienda to chatter the chilly night away. Despite the lack of a recipe –with or without beetles—here’s a tale guaranteed to warm the bones on a cold night.”
(Kirkus – Picture book/folktale. 7-9)
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