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Summary
Summary
This ol' boy needs a bath!
After he finds a tumbleweed in his chaps and the numerous bugs buzzing around him affect his hearing, the cowboy decides it's time to head to the river. Once there, he peels off all his clothes and tells his trusty old dog to guard them against strangers. He takes a refreshing bath and emerges clean as corn - but so fresh-smelling that his dog doesn't recognize him! Negotiations over the return of the clothes prove fruitless. A wrestling match ensues in a tale that grows taller by the sentence, climaxing in a fabric-speckled dust devil.
Amy Timberlake has inserted a Western twang into this tale of filth and friendship, and Adam Rex has found many creative means of bodily concealment in his expressive, comical paintings.
Author Notes
Amy Timberlake lives in Dekalb, Illinois, and Adam Rex lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is the first book for both of them.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Maybe it was the 32 fleas in his hair or the tumbleweed in his chaps, "but whatever his reason, on that fateful day, the cowboy picked a doodlebug out of his right eyebrow and said, `This ol' boy needs a bath.' " His decision leads to hilarious trials and tribulations in this outstanding debut for both author and illustrator. Timberlake's keen comic timing and abundant western witticisms fit hand in glove with Rex's farcical golden- and copper-toned illustrations, which call to mind the tall-tale humor of Andrew Glass. The energetic compositions vary from spread to spread, including time-lapse cartoon-like panels, such inventive touches as close-up shots of individually numbered fleas, and borders that simulate rope or rustic wood, displaying native flora and fauna. The cowboy bears the goofy countenance of a befuddled Alfred E. Neuman. Best of all is the absurdly fortuitous camouflage of private parts: birds fly by, a rabbit stirs up a dust cloud at just the right moment and so on. After a good scrub in a New Mexico river, the cowboy finds his faithful dog (told to guard his clothes) growling at this clean-smelling stranger ("Where was that sweaty, wild boar-like smell that clung to the cowboy like a second pair of clothes?"). Only after the cowboy is sufficiently soiled by the ensuing tussle does the dog recognize him and release what remains of the duds. Transcending the cowboy-tale genre, this raucous romp should tickle bath-averse children everywhere. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
One morning, a very dirty cowboy decides to take his annual bath. But once he's clean, his faithful dog doesn't recognize his scent and won't relinquish his clothes. Timberlake's twangy storytelling and funny phonetic speech bubbles (Whoorrugg? asks the dog) and Rex's sepia-toned illustrations, full of inspired ways to conceal the cowboy's nudity, make for a humorous and original tall tale. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 2. A cowboy decides to take his yearly bath, so he heads to a nearby river, where he orders his scruffy dog to guard his clothes. When the cowboy returns from the river, he's so clean that the dog doesn't recognize him. The two get into an extended fracas, leaving the cowboy as filthy as ever and the clothes in tatters. Naked and dirty, the cowboy finally returns home, the dog trotting beside him. For some children, the appeal of this story is in the clever composition of the pictures that manages to conceal the cowboy's private bits. Rex's rich paintings add sparkle to the story's dramatic telling with the attention to detail and humor that may remind some grownups of Norman Rockwell's early work. A simple, slapstick tale that is sure to elicit some giggles. --Todd Morning Copyright 2003 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-After finding 32 fleas in his hair and tumbleweeds in his chaps, a freckle-faced cowboy decides that it's time for his annual bath. He mounts his horse, calls for his old dog, and heads for El Rio. There he disrobes and commands his companion to guard his duds. After frolicking merrily with a bar of soap (the amusing illustrations show many views of the naked cowboy bathing, while still keeping a G rating), he emerges thoroughly scrubbed and puckered "like a prickly pear." The dog does not detect his owner's familiar "wild boar-like smell" and stubbornly refuses to relinquish the garments. A dust-stirring brawl ensues that leaves the man as dirty as when he started, ultimately restoring his usual aroma. Unfortunately, the togs do not survive the tussle, and the cowboy heads for home, "bare as a shorn sheep." Told in descriptive language that rolls off the tongue, this story makes the most of a humorous situation. Filled with the dusty reds and sundown bronzes of the New Mexico setting, the paintings have a gritty, sinewy look that matches the earthy tone of the tale. Clever touches abound, as the artwork offers framed close-ups of the cowboy's uninvited vermin, a map of his route to the river, and whirling views of the wrestling match. The hangdog expression on the pooch's face when he realizes his mistake is priceless. A fun look at life on the range.-Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Deciding, for obscure reasons, that it's time for a bath, a solitary cowboy discovers that being clean can have unexpected complications in this side-splitting double debut. Ordering his dog to guard his clothes, the cowboy bounds into a river with a nearly new bar of lye soap to wash off the reek of black pepper and mesa mud, of wild boar and cow. But the dog doesn't recognize this fresh-smelling stranger, and defends the duds until a knockdown, drag-out brawl leaves the cowboy covered in mud. Unfortunately, this leaves those clothes, except for hat and boots, in shreds. Realistically modeling setting and figures, but keeping the Legion of Decency off his case in numerous artful ways, Rex puts his cowhand, "naked as a nickel," up against a decidedly coyote-ish canine, then sends the two plodding back to their shack beneath an ineffectual rain shower. Inspired by an anecdote passed down in the author's family, this cautionary tale should please all young readers with an aversion to soap and water. (Picture book. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.