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.
“Once a whip of a girl named Waynetta lived with her Ma on a ranch in the poorest, scrubbiest part of Texas. They worked hard as eight-legged mules, but barely scraped by. One summer, a long dry spell hit. Their well bottomed out, the pond turned to dust, and the pastures dried up. Their longhorns got so thin it took three of them standing together to cast a shadow, and Waynetta and her Ma were forced to sell them off until only one longhorn was left. Finally, Waynetta’s Ma gave up all together. “We’ve run out of money to buy feed, Waynetta. You best sell that last critter ‘fore it starves.”
"Well if it ain't the seasoning for my grits!" the giant shouted. He stomped after her her. Waynetta raced to the cornstalk. She was almost there when the giant grabbed her. "I feel hungry and you look tasty!" he roared.
With plenty of water, grass grew on the ranch once again. With the golden cow patties, Waynetta and her ma brought a new herd of longhorns. As for the giant, he bonked his head so hard in the fall, it knocked the mean right out of him. He and his wife stayed in the ranch and worked alongside Waynetta and her ma...
Reviews
“Fee, fie, foe, fits,/ I’ll cook myself some cowgirl grits!” In this funny, feminist, fractured version of jack and the Beanstalk, the hero is a girl, and her helper is a giant’s wife. The action-packed, neon-colored illustrations match the uproarious, tall-tale fun. Kids will enjoy the Wild West setting and the story of the bad grown-up who is outwitted by the small hero. Rochman, Hazel
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved
Booklist
“This Wild West version of Jack and the Beanstalk is sure to have readers breaking out their ten gallon hats and asking for some southwestern fare… There’ll be a showdown at any library not stocking this title.”
Kirkus
Kindergarten-Grade 3-“In this exuberant reworking of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Waynetta reaches the top of a giant cornstalk to find “ the biggest ranch she’d ever seen.” A gun-toting, ax-wielding mother and other exaggerative characters accompany the rich Texan parlance that peppers this amusing read-aloud.
-Kristen Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA
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