Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Cowboy's Christmas

The Cowboy's Christmas
Joan Walsh Anglund ~ Atheneum, 1972

Sometimes you get lucky when it comes to digging up old childhood memories. I was happy to find reprints of this 1970s series I loved so much when I was a girl. I don't remember which ones I had (if any) but this hugely adorable collection (that also includes The Brave Cowboy, Cowboy's Secret Life, and Cowboy and His Friend) was a favorite. My mother loved Anglund, so we received loads of her books during the holidays. It only seems right that I must have owned one Cowboy tale at some point.

Much like the imaginary friends you find in Eloise, we see the real life Cowboy as shown in black always shadowed by his secret friends and world in red. DE-LIGHT-FUL!Once there was a cowboy who was especially busy (and so was his friend, Bear). Every day he has lots to do. Some days he wrote things and some days he made things and some days he just wished for things. But every day...he was busy!You can relate, no? Despite all this busy-busy, Cowboy always stays gracious and polite, never loses his temper. All the way up through making cookies and wrapping presents he stays a good boy, setting an awesome example for all us b**ches out there who cuss strangers in the mall parking lot and down bottles of wine during the holidays just to stay relaxed. He's a good kid. We can all take a lesson from his calm and cool. I suppose if I had a fuzzy, cuddly bear to keep me company all day long, I wouldn't be so grumpy either. Must be nice.

Also by:
Love is a Special Way of Feeling
Nibble Nibble Mousekin

3 comments:

  1. I LOVE Joan Anglund books. Her illustrations are so sweet and cute. The stories are wonderful and make you feel all warm and fuzzy - something that I needed as a child. I haven't read this one, but now am determined to track it down!

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  2. I just recently discovered your site and love it. It is a much needed site, looking through the pages of arts and words that influenced us as children- something that I thought to be lacking somewhat with children today- but maybe not. Thanks for sharing- brings back memories of my own childhood as well. I hope you don't mind, but I've link your site over at my own.

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