Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
  • Published: 28 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593406182
  • Imprint: Dial
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 40
  • RRP: $17.99

Black Cowboy, Wild Horses

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In the picture book that Booklist says "manifest[s] love and respect for the West and cowboys of color," celebrated creators Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney share the true story of Bob Lemmons, a formerly enslaved Black man who became a renowned mustang wrangler.

Bob Lemmons is famous for his ability to track wild horses. He rides his horse, Warrior, picks up the trail of mustangs, then runs with them day and night until they accept his presence. Bob and Warrior must then challenge the stallion for leadership of the wild herd. A victorious Bob leads the mustangs across the wide plains and for one last spectacular run before guiding them into the corral. Bob's job is done, but he dreams of galloping with Warrior forever to where the sky and land meet.

This splendid collaboration by an award-winning team captures the beauty and harshness of the frontier, a boundless arena for the struggle between freedom and survival. Based on accounts of Bob Lemmons, a formerly enslaved person, Black Cowboy, Wild Horses has been rewritten as a picture book by Julius Lester from his story "The Man Who Was a Horse" in Long Journey Home, first published by Dial in 1972.
  • Published: 28 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593406182
  • Imprint: Dial
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 40
  • RRP: $17.99
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Also by Julius Lester

To Be a Slave
From Slave Ship to Freedom Road
John Henry
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Praise for Black Cowboy, Wild Horses

Praise for Black Cowboy, Wild Horses

Parents' Choice Silver Honor

"Lester studs his seamless prose with powerful descriptions . . . The fluid brushwork of Pinkney's watercolors seem tailor-made for the flow of muscle, mane and tail of wild mustangs galloping across the prairie. Notable for the light it sheds on a fascinating slice of Americana, this book is essential for anyone interested in the Wild West." --Publishers Weekly

"Lester and Pinkney's stated aims were to recast their childhood love of cowboys and the Old West with more recent historical research into the contributions of men of color, both black and Hispanic. They have done that, and achieved something else as well: youngsters will reflect on the relationships between humans and other animals." --School Library Journal

"Lester and Pinkney's manifest love and respect for the West and cowboys of color, whose contributions have been too long overlooked, distinguish their latest collaboration." --Booklist

"Colorful, exuberant storytelling. The text is ably matched by Pinkney's big, dappled watercolor scenes of open prairie and muscular, galloping horses." --Kirkus Reviews

"The combination of Lester's poetic prose and Pinkney's illustrations makes this a most unusual biography with appeal to a wide range of readers--horse-lovers, history-lovers, naturalists, and lovers of a good story. The pictures of thundering, galloping horses are unmatched." --Parents' Choice

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