Chico
Grade 1-4–In this engaging picture book, Justice O'Connor shares a story from when she was six years old. She grew up on her family's Arizona ranch, where she helped with kitchen and barn chores. She liked to watch the antelope and was taught to avoid rattlesnakes. Horses were her favorite animal; she learned to ride when she was five. Although her mother instructed her to stay close to home, on one particularly exciting day, she rode Chico a distance from the house to look at a new baby calf. On the way back, they encountered a rattlesnake in their path. The fear on both faces is captured in one of Andreasen's gorgeous paintings. The pictures are done in muted colors and show the wonder of nature in the Southwest, from a fierce thunderstorm to a clearing sky with a rainbow. The author's warm relationship with her parents, her plucky spirit, and the animals on the ranch and in the desert make this a wonderful read. Although O'Connor does not mention anything about her future career as the first woman Supreme Court Justice, this book would be of interest to children studying women's history.–Heather Ver Voort, Washington West Elementary, Olean, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.