Pecos Bill by Steven Kellogg, Laura Robb (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

"The anecdotes associated with Texas's fabled cowboy hero burst from the pages in rapid succession, Kellogg's robust illustrations enlarging and enriching the energetic text."—School Library Journal. "A read-aloud treat....One of Kellogg's best."—Booklist.

Horn Book

Steven Kellogg's artistic qualities of playful inventiveness and exaggeration and his knack with language make him an ideal teller of tales. Kellogg has done a spledid job with Pecos Bill, taking several episodes and enriching them with visual humor...excellent introduction to the tall tale for the picture-book crowd.

Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

...combines visual farce with verbal exaggeration to provide a graphic rendition of an American tall tale....Kellogg's portrayal of Pecos Bill as a perpetual boy will appeal to children. The retelling is a smooth adaptation for introducing young listeners...

Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

. . . combines visual farce with verbal exaggeration to provide a graphic rendition of an American tall tale. . . . Kellogg's portrayal of Pecos Bill as a perpetual boy will appeal to children. The retelling is a smooth adaptation for introducing young listeners. . .

Publishers Weekly

A rootin'-tootin' hero of ``the rugged pioneer days'' comes to glorious life in Kellogg's characteristically antic prose and pictures. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

PreS Up The anecdotes associated with Texas' fabled cowboy hero burst from the pages in rapid succession, Kellogg's robust illustrations enlarging and enriching the choppy, energetic text that is seasoned with Texan expressions. In dramatizing Pecos Bill's life story, Kellogg also conveys a sense of place, of the rugged, expansive physical beauty of the American West in pioneer days. Yellow-oranges and blues dominate the scenes, in tones that range from dust-pale to midnight blue. Skillful framing and alternating of perspectives enhance readers' involvement: vast panoramas in which people are dwarfed by endless stretches of land and sky; double-page spreads cluttered with close-up action; breathtaking overviews, as of a tremendous herd of cattle, each steer made distinct, yet part of a near-monochromatic blend of hazy light and animal landscape. In contrast to these lavish illustrations are neatly-boxed illustrations that parallel the text, sometimes spilling from the frames when the action simply can't be contained. Kellogg's style is ideally suited to this tall taleantic, detailed, colorful, hyperbolic. Susan Powers, Berkeley Carroll Street Sch . , Brooklyn

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