Vaqueros

Vaqueros were cowboys who roamed across the plains of South America for many years before American cowboys began to appear. A chihuahua named Chi Chi helps tell the story of these proud men, who herded cattle first brought by the explorers in the 1500's. This cute little chihuahua is along for the entire story, from the time the cattle strayed away from their owners to the time the rich Charros claimed them as their own and hired Indians to herd them.
He is an expert on the Vaqueros and their culture, which spread throughout the Americas, and on their skills, like their special roping techniques used to catch straying cattle. With one technique, the Vaqueros would throw a loop over the cow's head, circle its feet, and throw it to the ground. They also made changes to their saddles, which included adding horns and tappaderos, in order to do their jobs better. Chi Chi is even there at the end when American men learned the techniques of the Vaqueros, and became the American cowboy we know so well.
Colorful illustrations make this children's book written and illustrated by James Rice lively and interesting, while side by side English and Spanish assist children in developing their bilingual language skills.
James Rice is widely acclaimed as the South's leading author and illustrator of juvenile books. With more than one million copies of his books in print, he ranks among the nation's top authors and illustrators. Rice completed his M.F.A.
at Stephen F. Austin State University. He holds degrees in art from the University of Texas and Howard Payne College and has taught art and music at both the high school and college levels.

A history of the cowboy in America from the time the Spanish brought cattle to the New World in the 1500s through the Civil War.

A cute chihuahua named Chi Chi assists in presenting the tale of the South American cowboys, the vaqueros, in both Spanish and English. The vaqueros' history begins with the arrival of the explorers and their cattle in the 1500s.

The explorers' cattle often strayed away and multiplied, which allowed the rich charros to claim them as their own. These charros hired vaqueros to drive their cattle from horseback, and the vaqueros soon became a highly skilled group with their own culture, techniques, and equipment Chapaderos and special roping techniques quickly became trademarks of the vaqueros.

English and Spanish text, presented side by side, accompanies the colorful illustrations. Children will not only learn about history, but will also have fun improving their bilingual skills with this lively look at the vaqueros.

James Rice, in his long, distinguished career as an author and illustrator, has produced fifty-plus childrenís books, among them illustrations for an addition to the Night Before Christmas series, Gullah Night Before Christmas. With more than a million and a half copies of his books in print, he ranks among the nationís best-selling creators of childrenís books.