Synopsis
Ben has always dreamed of becoming a cowboy. But when he and his family move from the West to New York City, they have to give up their ranch and their horses.
In the city Ben feels lonely and homesick for the ranch. But then one day he discovers the Tenth Avenue Cowboys, who ride their horses through the city to warn of approaching trains. He can hardly believe that there are cowboys in the city!
Brought to life by dramatic illustrations, this historically based tale reveals how one boy’s dream helps him accept his new home.
Children's Literature
It is 1910, and Ben and his family have moved to New York City from their ranch in the West to find work. Ben, who has always wanted to be a cowboy, misses everything about the West and hates his life in the city. He is surprised to learn that there are cowboys and horses in New York. It is the job of the Tenth Avenue Cowboys to gallop down Tenth Avenue, where the trains run, to warn people of the approaching trains. Ben visits the cowboys and horses at their stables and is thrilled to get a chance to ride with a cowboy down the avenue. He finally can accept the city as his home. The country landscape of the title page becomes the cityscape as the page turns. Farnsworth's oil paintings are naturalistic as they depict the start of an adventure, along with the contrasting life styles. The drama takes shape as Ben and his family arrive in the city and we see Ben daydreaming of the life he left behind. Then the horses of the city catch his attention, and we are presented with a sequence of horse-filled scenes as Ben learns to join the city cowboys. Colors remain muted, reinforcing emotions as Ben's ambitions gradually are realized. The handsomely crafted paintings of horses dominate the scenes; the terse prose of the text is oddly arranged like poetry. There is a glossary, along with a note filling in factual background. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz