Cattle Kids: A Year on the Western Range
Grade 1–4—This glossy pictorial essay attempts to show how children fit into life on a modern cattle ranch. Unfortunately, the book has little substance and readers are often left wondering who these "Cattle Kids" are and exactly what they do. Urbigkit describes the various tasks that take place during a typical year, such as birthing, branding, and grazing. Descriptions of these tasks are limited, however, and sentences are often vague and even trite. "The work can be hard, but it's never boring and usually it's a lot of fun." Even more frustrating is the fact that some of the photos are used several times.Cattle Kidshas no page numbers, no index, and no glossary to define difficult words such as "castration" or "lariat." Its only use is as a cursory introduction to Western ranching. For a much more interesting and informative account of work with cattle from a child's perspective, suggest Judy Wolfman'sLife on a Cattle Farm(Carolrhoda, 2001) instead.—Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.