Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy

July 23, 2012
Those who know and love Thomas will guess that the title of her latest is a clue that something is afoot. In this case, it’s the word “Brave,” because the titular cowboy is anything but. The little cows under his care (clearly the same breed as the goofy bovines of 2011’s Is Everyone Ready for Fun?) are ready to hit the hay under the stars. But each time the cowboy starts his lullaby (the sappy and monotonous lyrics of which will have kids and grownups giggling), he mistakes something innocuous for something scary, shouts “Eeeeek!” (instead of “goodnight”), and has to restart the song. But Brave Cowboy isn’t the only one to emit an “Eeeeek” that night, proving that sometimes a lullaby is all a cowboy needs to tame a terror. Like Thomas’s other stories, this one is ostensibly as uncomplicated as her big, loopy cartooning. But it’s actually a little gem of sketch comedy, drawing on a deep understanding of how timing, repetition, and modulation can make a story both fun to read aloud and a guaranteed laugh-getter, time and time again. Ages 3–5.

Starred review from August 1, 2012
Silliness abounds as a not-very-bright, not-very-brave cowboy croons his cows to sleep. Once again, Thomas, a master at working nonsensical mayhem with her characters, succeeds in this variation of a goodnight story. A guitar-strumming cowboy has the best of intentions when he begins his lullaby to two sleepy cows. Alas, he is too easily frightened by visions of spiders, snakes and bears, but the cows reassure him. When real danger approaches in the shape of a wolf, the clueless cowboy thinks it is just a bunny rabbit. The cows know better--or do they? Thomas uses her signature style of digitally rendered comic art to create a passel of endearing characters. Their very expressive faces, outlined in bold strokes of black, stand out against the intense blues and purples of the desert background. Speech bubbles with exploding type add to the bedlam. Don't save this for bedtime to share. A terrific story to read and sing, with a most satisfying finale. (Picture book. 2-6)

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November 1, 2012
Preschool-G In an anything but soothing lullaby, a rather high-strung cowboy tries to strum a pair of little dogies to sleep. He punctuates his somniferous lyricsIt's time for little cows to rest their heads. / It's time for little cows to go to bedwith a regular Eeeeek! as he mistakes a shadowy flower, a stick, and a harmless shadow for a spider, a snake, and a large, lumbering bear, respectively. In typically elemental cartoon illustrations, Thomas uses loud colors that don't always stay within their outlines, and she places her large figures against plain backgrounds of deep blues and purples. Ultimately another shadow actually does turn out to be a huge wolf, but as wolves also love lullabies, the stage is set for a cozy finish. In this, as in Thomas' other comically manic crowd-pleasers, the only thing wrong is that it's all over so quickly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)