  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 05/15/2016 Cowpoke Clyde may be an experienced cowhand, but after seeing an ad for a shiny red bicycle, Clyde decides to get one. Hoping it’ll be better than a bucking, biting, neighing horse, Clyde orders the bike from a catalog, and when it arrives, he thinks, “Piece of cake.” But whoa, Nelly! Riding isn’t so easy when you don’t know how to steer or brake, especially when several animals unexpectedly appear in your path, including a horny toad, a hare, a porcupine, and a herd of bighorn sheep. Despite these obstacles and a few spills along the way, Clyde proves he’s got grit: “He grabbed his hat and started back, / heading for his comfy shack. / But as he walked, he thunk a bit. / How could a cowpoke up and quit?” Mortensen’s melodic and twangy couplets beg to be read aloud, and Austin’s illustrations provide graphic-novel-like perspective, such as looking upward as Clyde pops a wheelie to avoid the porcupine. With more than 70 books under her belt, it’s clear this isn’t Mortensen’s first rodeo. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. Loading...
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