Leroy Ninker Saddles Up: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume One

Leroy Ninker is not a big fellow. In fact, he is rather small. But he has boots and a hat and a lasso. He often is heard to say “yippie-i-oh.” He wants to be a cowboy, but he works in a theatre concession stand and is happiest on Western night. He is finally told real cowboys must have horses, so he sets out to get one. When he finds Maybelline, it is a match made in heaven. They love each other immediately. The woman who sells Maybelline to Leroy Ninker tells him there are three rules to owning her. Can Leroy Ninker remember all three and become a real cowboy with a horse?

Kate DiCamillo has a real winner on her hands with this new book. Leroy Ninker is a great little character who will be fascinating to the first to third grade crowd and will keep them turning pages and asking for more. This book is funny and smart and very entertaining. The illustrations by Chris Van Dusen, also funny, smart, and entertaining, are the perfect complement for this story. There is a special surprise at the end for fans of DiCamillo’s other chapter books. Don’t miss this one.