Rodeo

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5Rodeo, according to Robbins, "...is how a cowboy plays." In this spare introduction, he describes bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping, and barrel racing. Succinct definitions of the role of the rodeo clown and of "rough stock" are also provided. The author writes in a casual, conversational style. The fact that cowboys need to be strong and willing to take risks is evident from both the hand-painted photographs and the text. The pictures capture the dusty, dry quality of the rodeo and the blurred action of fast-moving horses and steers. The animals involved, however, seem to be viewed only as vehicles for the cowboys to earn money and glory. There is no explanation of the use of cinches to encourage horses and bulls to buck, or even more general information on the care and treatment of these "four-legged partners" who are as important as the cowboys to the rodeo's success.Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA

Kirkus Reviews

In a departure from his characteristic still-life photos of bridges, tools, flowers, and the elements, Robbins (Earth, 1995, etc.) turns his camera to a much more kinetic subject—the rodeo. He first reaches back 150 years to provide readers with a brief history of the rodeo. Interspersing cowboy colloquialisms with facts, this concise photo essay clearly defines and describes the rules of the rodeo and its major events. From bareback bronc riding to steer wrestling, calf roping to female barrel racing, Robbins shows how this fierce, dusty, bone-crushing wild-ride-of-a-sport is not for the faint-hearted.

Surprisingly, hand-tinted photos work just as well for action shots of bucking bulls and broncos as they do for lonely portraits of empty bleachers, suggesting anticipation while framing and accentuating the rough and tumble events that show "how a cowboy plays."