Roundup at the Palace. (Northern Lights Books for Children). Kathleen Cook Waldron. Illustrated by Alan & Lea Daniel. Calgary, AB: Red Deer Press, 2006. 32 pp., cloth, $19.95. ISBN 0-88995-319-8. Subject Heading: Bulls-Juvenile fiction. Cowboys-Juvenile fiction. Grades 1-4 / Ages 6-9. Review by Helen Norrie. **** /4

excerpt:

Buster flicked his tail. Policemen rushed into the lobby. Zack's dad was right behind them. He grabbed the first policeman's arm. "Don't move! Don't alarm him. The boy knows what to do." And sure enough, before an audience eight stories high, Zack eased closer to Buster and looped his rope through the ring on the bull's halter.

Roundup at the Palace is a fun picture book suitable for ages 6-9 about a bull who gets loose when Zack and his dad are taking it to a stock show. When the bull ends up in the lobby of the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado, only Zack's singing ability and the quick-thinking of a fearless little girl avoid disaster and panic.

     This book will be especially appreciated by any students who are familiar with rodeos or who are used to being around farm animals. But it can also be enjoyed by any child who would delight in the thrill of confronting a huge bull and taming it with a song. It could be a good read-aloud story, especially if the reader is willing to sing along.

     Kathleen Cook Wilson was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. She now lives in 100 Mile House, BC, where she writes children's picture books and plants trees for reforestration. Alan and Lee Daniel, whose illustrations are big, bold and humorous, live in Kitchener, ON, and have illustrated over 23 books.

Highly Recommended.

Helen Norrie is a former teacher-librarian who writes a monthly column on children's books for the Winnipeg Free Press.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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