One of our children's all-time favorite stories was Cowboy Small, by Lois Lenski. This version is a color reissue, we always had the old black and white. Children love this book- it is a guaranteed favorite!!! There are a lot of things to explain as you read this book, and I have found that children love to hear these details over and over. Inside the front cover are drawings of Cowboy Small and his horse, and all their gear spread out around them. I go over each piece of gear, telling the children what it is for- they are fascinated (helps that my husband and I grew up riding horses and on ranches). I start the beginning where he says, "HI, I'm Cowboy Small.." with a "Texan" accent. In the picture where he is putting the saddle on and pulling the girth tight, Cactus' (the horse) ears are back. I tell them that means Cactus is not happy- it is like you having your belt pulled tight, but I explain (on the chair I am sittting on) what would happen if the girth were not pulled tight- your saddle would slip sideways and you would be riding sideways. Then, on the next page, he puts his left foot in the saddle and gets up. I tell them what would happen if he put his right foot in the saddle and got up (would be riding backwards on the horse) and they hoot! Fun to explain how he is fixing the "barbed wire" fence- why did cowboys have barbed wire fences and where would the cows go if the fence wasn't fixed....???? They love seeing him camp out at night- Cactus is staked to a stick so he won't wander away- and sleeping standing up! Cowboy Small hits the sack for the night, but carefully puts out his campfire. Every page has fun explaining you can do- why are horses bucking broncos,etc?? It is a book that kids love to read over and over and over again.
Losi Lenski is one of my favorite authors of children's books. I just got an autobiography of her that I will be reading- Journey Into Childhood-
A nice biography of her is found on this site, with a list of all her books she illustrated and authored. She has a lovely collection of books for young children- I have some in my pictures here, both old, and new reissues. But she also has wonderful books for older children- historical fiction and the Besty-Tacy series. Some of her books can be found new at bookstores, or older ones on Ebay and library and garage sales. These are books well worth the search and well worth reading over and over again.