Twelve Cowboys Ropin'

From the front cover right on through to the last page, Susan Holt Kralovansky has created a rootin', tootin', cowboy Christmas extravaganza Drawing on her skills as a children's educator, librarian, and fiber artist, Kralovansky transforms the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas with a Texas flair. In unusual fabric collages, she starts with a mockingbird in an oak tree and throws in iconic armadillos, prickly pears, boots, and longhorns along with the lesser-known Texas treasure of topaz. The pages are filled with dancin' gals, cowboys a ropin', guitars a strummin', bats a flyin', and some beautiful monarch butterflies

Along with charming fiber-art illustrations created from Southwest-inspired textures of burlap, rope, and colorful cotton, Kralovansky has created bonus pages of fun facts about these symbols of the great state of Texas. Included are such interesting trivia as the official state dance (the square dance), official footwear (the cowboy boot), and the date of the first rodeo (1883). A wonderful book for classroom interactions or family reading, this unique presentation of a familiar rhyme will draw in young readers and keep them enthralled long after the last 'dillo scurries off to bed.