July 28 – National Day of the Cowboy

About the Holiday

Observed annually on the fourth Saturday of July, the day commemorates the “contributions of the Cowboy and Cowgirl to America’s culture and heritage.” The heyday of the cowboy and cowgirl came after the Civil War when Texas experienced a booming wild cattle population. As the population of the United States grew, the demand for beef increased. Cowboys and cowgirls drove nearly 5 million head of cattle north to meet the demand, sparking tales, legends, and a rich history of the Great Plains in their boot and hoof steps. With no written laws on the books, cowboys even came up with their own code of conduct, which included living each day with honestly and courage, taking pride in your work, standing up for what’s right, and many more rules to live by. For more information visit The Day of the Cowboy website.

Real Cowboys

Written by Kate Hoefler | Illustrated by Jonathan Bean

Real cowboys wake with the dawn’s light and are careful not to make too much noise for the people still sleeping in the “little houses in the hollow, and up the mountains, and at the edge of fields in the distance.” It is natural for the cowboys to think of others. Their job is to care for the herd; to help a stranded calf and their dog who is trying to lure it to safety; to soothe the herd when thunder rumbles overhead.

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Image copyright Jonathan Bean, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Real cowboys sing soft, slow songs to their cows to encourage them to continue moving when the path is narrow and dangerous and to sleep when coyotes howl in the night. Cowboys are good listeners—heeding the advice and warnings of the trail boss and other cowhands. “Sometimes they listen for trucks, and wolves, and rushing water. And sometimes they just listen to the big wide world and its grass song.” Along the way cowboys keep themselves safe with their wide-brimmed hats and leather chaps.

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Image copyright Jonathan Bean, text copyright Kate Hoefler. Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Because the cattle drive is long—lasting “for hours, or days, or weeks”—cowboys learn to be patient. “Even on a fast horse, they have to move with the slow rhythm of a herd….” When they need help, real cowboys don’t hesitate to ask, using hand and hat signals to alert other cowhands. “Real cowboys want peace. They don’t want stampedes, where all the cattle spook, and thunder over the earth, and scatter in dust storms.” Sometimes, however, this happens, and sometimes a few cattle and dogs are lost. Thinking of them when times are quiet, “real cowboys cry.”

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Image copyright Jonathan Bean, text copyright Kate Hoefler. Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

At night cowboys take turns eating and sleeping so there is always someone to watch over the herd. When they pack up camp and move on, real cowboys are mindful of the earth, and when they are far from home, inside themselves they can feel homesick, even if they look tough on the outside. “Real cowboys are as many different colors as the earth. Real cowboys are girls too.” In their hearts “real cowboys are artists,” creating stories that are bigger than the wide open prairie. “They wonder what’s past the horizon. And one day, when their work is done, real cowboys find out.”

Kate Hoefler’s moving tribute to cowboys and cowgirls demonstrates the qualities of kindness, thoughtfulness, and mindfulness that we want to share with our children. With lyrical language she follows cowboys on a cattle drive, where they experience the joys and sorrows that life entails for all. Hoefler’s pacing echoes the day-to-day movement of the herd as well as readers’ daily life. Delving into the responsibilities and characteristics of these men and women is a unique way to open the world to children and promote discussions about the traits of caring individuals.

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Image copyright Jonathan Bean, courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Jonathan Bean’s hand-stenciled illustrations printed in four Pantone colors are particularly effective in portraying the life of the cowboys and cowgirls entrusted with herds of cattle. Early morning dawns to rose skies that color even the horses and reflect in the drinking trough. Cattle, obscured by dust raised on the trail, form the backdrop to a cowboy worriedly watching his dog coax a calf from a cliff, and afternoon turns to night in a two-page spread where a cow nuzzles her calf as it sleeps. Depictions of the enormity of the herd traveling from one place to another amid sweltering days, rain storms, and blizzards are beautifully rendered, and the emotions of the cowboys are clearly discernable and touching.

Real Cowboys is stunning in both language and illustrations. For quiet story times, bedtime, or times for reflection and inspiration, this book would make an excellent addition to children’s bookshelves.

Ages 4 – 7

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016 | ISBN 978-0544148925

To view a gallery of illustration by Jonathan Bean, visit his website!

National Day of the Cowboy Activity

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Rootin’-Tootin’ Round-Up Maze

These cowgirls and cowboys have a surprise waiting for them. Can you help them round it up in this printable Rootin’-Tootin’ Round-Up Maze?

**You can find Real Cowboys at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

July 22 – It’s National Blueberry Month

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Why do we celebrate bees and honey during National Blueberry Month? Because—as Fred, the beekeeper in today’s book knows—the fragrant blossoms on blueberry bushes provide nectar that bees make into some of the most complex, sweet, and delicious honey around. If you’re lucky enough to find blueberry honey on your grocery store shelves—or even better, at your local farmers market—don’t hesitate to try it! While you’re at it, grab some plump, delectable blueberries and make blueberry pancakes to put that honey on!

The Honeybee Man

Written by Lela Nargi | Illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker

At dawn on a July morning, Fred awakens to begin his day with his “enormous” family. His morning routine consists of a cup of tea and a climb back upstairs and through a hatch in the ceiling that takes him to the roof. “All around is quiet Brooklyn city—brownstones and linden trees, a tall clock tower, and bridges in the distance.” But nearby is another, tiny city. It consists of only three houses, but inside are “thousands of tiny rooms made of wax.”

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Image copyright Kyrsten Brooker, 2011, courtesy of Schwartz & Wade.

The summer morning smells of “maple leave and gasoline and the river and dust. He turns to the tiny city and inhales its smaller, sweeter smell—a little like caramel, a little like ripe peaches.” He bends down to the three houses to wake their residents. “‘Good morning, Queen Mab. Good morning, Queen Nefertiti. Good morning, Queen Boadicea,’” he calls before greeting the rest of his family: “‘Good morning, my bees, my darlings!’”

Inside the houses the bees are busy. The queens are laying eggs while the workers build wax rooms, nurse bees feed the babies, and others are getting ready to find fields of flowers for nectar. Fred dreams of the marvelous flowers the bees may find to flavor their honey. He imagines the bees flying low over the flowers moving among them and wishes he could soar with them too.

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Image copyright Kyrsten Brooker, 2011, courtesy of Schwartz & Wade

Fred watches the young bees uncertainly leave the hive and swirl off into the air. The older bees “zip out of the hives and throw themselves at the air, embracing it with their wings.” When a few land on Fred’s arm, he gently flicks them on their way. He spies on them from his rooftop as they disperse into his backyard garden, other neighborhood gardens, and perhaps, if Fred is lucky, to “blueberry bushes somewhere across town.” He sees the bees “dive into sweet pea and squash flowers. If he were closer, he could see them using their tubelike tongues to drink in flower nectar, which they store in honey sacs inside their bellies.”

The bees fly slowly home weighted down with their treasure. Fred knows that inside the hive the bees will go to work, some will do the waggle dance that tells other bees where the flowers are, some will take the nectar and store it in the wax rooms, and others will fan “their wings to evaporate the water from the nectar so it will turn to honey.”

: Image copyright Kyrsten Brooker, 2011, text copyright Lela Nargi, 2011. Courtesy of Schwartz & Wade.

At the end of August Fred knows it’s time to collect the honey. He carefully enters the tiny houses, removing the honeycomb from the top. In his own home he cuts the wax caps of the comb and the honey begins to flow. A special spinning machine squeezes every drop from the honeycomb. He pours the honey into jars and labels them “Fred’s Brooklyn Honey, Made by Tireless Brooklyn Bees.” In the evening Fred sits on his stoop chatting with the neighbors. He gives each a jar of golden honey.

As night falls Fred opens a jar of honey as the bees huddle “back in their own city, waiting for the rays of tomorrow’s sun to call them up and away over Brooklyn.” Fred dips a finger into the honey and tastes. “It is sweet, like linden flowers. It is sharp, like rosemary. It is ever-so-slightly sour. “‘Ah,’ says Fred, absorbing these happy flavors. ‘Blueberries!’”

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Image copyright Kyrsten Brooker, 2011, text copyright Lela Nargi, 2011. Courtesy of Schwartz & Wade.

Lela Nargi’s lovely city-based nature book brilliantly likens the tightly packed, exhilarating environs of Brooklyn to the stirring realm of the beehive. Through Fred’s love of his bee family, Nargi lyrically and with marvelous metaphors and verbs reveals the fascinating world of bees as well as the rich and satisfying life of one particular beekeeper. Readers organically learn fascinating facts about the ways bees collect nectar and transform it into delicious honey as well as why honey can have so many flavors.

In her gorgeous illustrations, Kyrsten Brooker uses the golden hues of honey to paint not only the beehive but Brooklyn as well, giving the two “cities” a sense of cohesiveness and equality. Fred, older, with his cup of tea and blue slippers is shown gently and lovingly taking care of his bees, even as he still has their spirit of adventure. Brooker’s combination of oils and collage fuse the dreamy quality of the text with the concreteness of its facts to create a unique book that would be perfect for quiet story times, rainy afternoons, or bedtime.

If there is such a thing as a child’s nature cozy, The Honeybee Man is it. The book would make a wonderful gift and a delightful addition to any child’s or classroom library.

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Image copyright Kyrsten Brooker, 2011, text copyright Lela Nargi, 2011. Courtesy of Schwartz & Wade.

The endpapers provide detailed diagrams of the various types of bees, beehives, flowers, the waggle dance, and even a bee’s stinger. Nature lovers will relish the two pages of “amazing facts about honey, honeybees, and beekeepers” that follow the story.

Ages 5 – 10

Schwartz & Wade, 2011 | ISBN 978-0375849800

You can find books for children, articles for adults, and so much more on Lela Nargi’s website!

To learn more about Kyrsten Brooker, her books, and her art, visit her website.

National Blueberry Month Activity

CPB---Busy-Buzzy-Bee-Maze

Busy Buzzy Bee Maze

Can you help the little bee find her way through the maze to get to the flower and her friend?

Busy Buzzy Bee Maze | Busy Buzzy Bee Maze Solution!

The Honeybee Man can be found at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

July 18 – National Hot Dog Day

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

Although not all celebrated on the same date, Hot Dog Days are worldwide events. The United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia are just a few of the areas where the hot dog reigns supreme on at least one day a year. A favorite of kids and adults alike, hot dogs can be enjoyed plain or loaded with everything from mustard to chili. To celebrate today’s holiday, some venues are offering free hot dogs or special deals. Check them out or throw a hot dog picnic for your friends and family—just like the one in today’s book (well, almost!).

Hot Dog! Eleanor Roosevelt Throws a Picnic

Written by Leslie Kimmelman | Illustrated by Victor Juhasz

Before Eleanor Roosevelt became the first lady of the United States, she loved to grill up hot dog roasts for her family and friends. You see, Eleanor loved hot dogs! But after her husband Franklin became President, Eleanor had important duties. “Things were tough in the United States in the 1930s,” and since Franklin “couldn’t walk or move about easily, he counted on Eleanor to travel around the country for him” talking to people to see how the government could make things better. “Soon Eleanor was as popular as the president.”