Since 1926, Pelican Publishing Company has been committed to publishing books of quality and permanence that enrich the lives of those who read them.
Wyoming
The African-American buffalo soldiers, nicknamed by the Cheyenne Indians because of their curly hair and bravery, joined the six black regiments commissioned by an act of Congress in 1866. These men, many of whom were former slaves, enlisted in the army to earn a steady income, acquire an education, and gain respect.
Charles Marion Russell was the first artist to live most of his life in the West, sketching and painting not only from live subjects, but from actual experience. Becoming a frontiersman at a young age in 1880, he rode and worked with horses on a daily basis, something that no other Western artist had done before. This biography for children is the first of its kind about Russell, and the subject’s own vibrant paintings illustrate his life story. It follows Russell from his school days through adulthood and reveals how he held on to his dreams, living out a child’s cowboy fantasy.
Anyone who has lived in the Southwest or grown up on dime-store Westerns, John Ford or roadrunner cartoons will probably understand the gist of that paragraph. So too will those who are comfortable with a well-worn saddle and knotted reins or who have tussled with dogies and teethed on alphabet blocks that spelled of their own accord: bronc and quirt and waddy. Hardcover.
In this new twist on the classic tale, the two cowboys help the mysterious man round up eight replacement longhorns. Together they hitch the cattle up to the odd gent’s wagon and see him on his way. The two cowboys trudge back to their shanty, where they discover the gifts the stranger has left them. Hardcover.
Children will delight in reading this clever rendition of the classic poem, and coloring in James Rice’s celebrated artwork of two lonely cowboys, Old Saint Nicholas, and the ornery Longhorns they must try and get to pull his sleigh.
Texas Jack, the long-eared jackrabbit, tells the story of how rodeos came about in this full-color book by author/illustrator James Rice. In this tale young readers learn about the three R’s: “ropin’, ridin’, and rasslin’.” Hardcover.
Featured in the UMBA Holiday Catalog
From the butchering of the pigs in springtime to the plowing of the corn in the summer, Bob Artley describes the sometimes tedious, sometimes enjoyable, aspects of growing up on an American farm. Artley’s farm is neither ideal nor outmoded, but simply his world as it was in a particular time and place. Hardcover.
Vaqueros were cowboys who roamed across the plains of South America for many years before American cowboys began to appear. A chihuahua named Chi Chi helps tell the story of these proud men, who herded cattle first brought by the explorers in the 1500s. This cute little chihuahua is along for the entire story, from the time the cattle strayed away from their owners to the time the rich Charros claimed them as their own and hired Indians to herd them. Hardcover.
An assortment of friendly desert animals greets a young cowgirl as she heads out West on her pony. Along the way, she says “Howdy!” to a scampering jackrabbit, a howling coyote, and a charging buffalo as she trots farther down the trail. Readers are introduced to these regional critters of the West before arriving to the surprise—and endearing—ending.
In the third book of this popular series, Slim Jim Watkins discovers that running a ranch of his own can be downright lonely. Sure, he passes the time by telling stories to his horse, Bonecrusher, but that is just not the same as having a pardner of his own. Hardcover.
This beautifully illustrated, amusing story with its anticipatory suspense will delight kids and grown-ups alike, and everyone will be charmed by the nightly entourage of desert animals who play a key role. That is, until Slim Jim Watkins learns a thing or two and starts to sleep with his boots on. Hardcover.