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Summary
Summary
Bubba, a cheerful soul, leads a miserable life. His wicked step-daddy and two nasty step-brothers, Dwayne and Milton, are at him all day long. When he's not doing their chores, he's cleaning the stables, roping the steers or branding the cattle. When will it ever be Bubba's turn to shine? Miz Lurleen, the purtiest (and richest!) rancher in Texas, is tired of ten-dollar Stetsons on 2-cent heads. She aims to find herself a real man, and a hoe-down ball is just the way to do it. With the help of a fairy godcow and the loss of a cowboy boot, Bubba and Miz Lurleen find each other--and true love--in this funny, fractured role-reversed Texas Cinderella.
Author Notes
Artist and illustrator James Warhola is the nephew of Andy Warhol. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design from Carnegie Mellon University and then studied at the Art Students' League of New York. He has designed over 300 science fiction and fantasy covers for books by such authors as Spider Robinson, Heinlein, and W. Gibson. He also serves as a consultant to the Museum of Modern Art (the Warhol Family Museum) in Medzilaborce, Ruthenia, the ancentral home of the Warhol family.
Since 1987, he has concentrated on illustrating children's books, including If You're Happy and You Know It and The Wheels on the Race C ar for Orchard Books. He wrote and illustrated Uncle An dy's, which won a 2004 IRA Children's Book Award.
James Warhola lives in Tivoli, New York, with his family.
Author of the popular children's book, Armadillo Tattletale, Helen Ketteman is an exceptional writer of over 13 books and has appeared on both television and radio. She has an Associates of Arts Degree from Young Harris College in Young Harris, GA and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Georgia State University in Atlanta. She has taught both high school English and elementary school and has also taught continuing education classes in writing picture books at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She has spoken to adult writing classes on writing picture books, and often visits elementary schools. She is currently living in San Francisco, CA.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Rustler lingo and illustrations chockablock with Texas kitsch make this ranch-spun Cinder-fella a knee-slappin' tale. Bullied by his step-kin, Bubba is stranded on the ranch while the rest of Texas attends the ball hosted by Miz Lurleen"the purtiest and richest gal in the county"who is looking for a feller who loves ranching as much as she does. While Bubba checks the herd, the sky grows "darker than a black bull at midnight." The thunderhead rolling in turns out to be his fairy godcowhaloed, freshly coiffed and wielding not a wand but lightning bolts. By the time the duded-up Bubba hits the shindig, Miz Lurleen has wearied of the last of her suitors ("another ten-dollar Stetson on a five-cent head"). After some fine do-si-do-ing, Bubba's duds turn to rags, but Miz Lurleen is infatuated. While spoofing Cinderella is not a new idea, Ketteman and Warhola's (Aunt Hilarity's Bustle) well-matched flair for hyperbole gives both the narrative and illustrations a one-two punch. Just the ticket for buckaroos lookin' fer a good read. Ages 5-8. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This fairy tale takeoff substitutes the stepson of a wicked cattle rancher for Cinderella and an industrious wealthy neighbor gal with Texas-size hair for the prince. The western-style trimmings of the text and accompanying oil paintings are humorous but not enough to justify retelling a story that's as overworked as poor Bubba. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ""the biggest spread west of the Brazos."" She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ""and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either."" There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ""Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits."" Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ages 5^-8. Retold countless times with new twists and different settings, the story of Cinderella seems to have universal and endless appeal. This western version features a cow as the fairy godmother, and breaks tradition with a gender reversal in which the Cinderella role is played by a likable Texas cowboy named Bubba, and the handsome prince's part is taken by Miz Lurleen, a spunky (and wealthy) cowgirl who throws a ball when she decides it's time to find a husband. Ketteman wisely leaves the plot unchanged, but the story has a distinct western flair and a humorous tall-tale feel that is greatly enhanced by the exaggerated actions and facial expressions of the characters in Warhola's double-page-spread oil paintings. With a male in the starring role, this charming and funny retelling may hold more appeal for young boys than the traditional version may. --Lauren Peterson
