How I Spent My Summer Vacation

From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2?An original fantasy told in rhyme. Wallace Bleff, who is reporting to his class about his summer vacation, tells of his travels west at the bidding of his parents, who felt his overactive imagination needed a rest. He relates how en route to his Aunt Fern's house, he is kidnapped by cowboys and?voila, Kid Bleff is born. He joins the rawhide crowd; learns to rope, ride, and build fires; and becomes a "first-rate cowhand." In celebration of the end of the roundup, Aunt Fern invites Wallace and new friends to a barbecue. When a cattle stampede nearly ruins the party, the young hero saves the day as he displays hidden talent as a matador and reverses the direction of the herd. The art is done in warm acrylics throughout, first to portray the classroom setting where Wallace's yarn begins against the backdrop of the chalkboard, then segues into the sandy scenes of the Wild West, and back again. Teague strikes again with a unique idea, one teachers would do well to use. An excellent read-aloud choice for back-to-school reading in the classroom or the public library.?Marsha McGrath, Clearwater Public Library, FLCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Inside Flap in full color. In a wildly funny twist on the annual "How I spent my summer vacation" school-essay ritual, Mark Teague shakes up a dull classroom with a young student's imaginative account of his adventures in the Wild West.xa0xa0Most kids go to camp, or Grandma's house, or maybe they're stuck at home all summer.xa0xa0Not Wallace Bleff.xa0xa0He was supposed to visit his Aunt Fern.xa0xa0Instead, Wallace insists, he was carried off by cowboys and taught the ways of the West--from riding buckin' broncos to roping cattle.xa0xa0Lucky for Aunt Fern, he showed up at her house just in time to divert a stampede from her barbecue party!xa0xa0Perfect for back-to-school read-alouds, here's a western fantasy with sparkling illustrations and enough action to knock kids' boots off!