Honorable Mention, The June Franklin Naylor Award
for the Best Book for Children on Texas History
Sponsored by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas
After a long, arduous trail drive, cowboys were faced with a long ride home. It was customary for ranches along the route to offer food and shelter in exchange for work. Going from ranch to ranch was called riding the grub line.
Too Tall Thomas is a cowboy to his bones. When he finishes a long trail drive and begins to make his way home, he finds that life on the grub line is not all it’s cracked up to be. Though the work is hard and the food satisfies his hunger, it’s never as good as riding the range. After too-small beds and fancy vittles on his way south, Thomas is glad to settle in for the winter as a West Texas ranch hand for the staple food of a cowboy: bacon, beans, and coffee.
James Rice here returns to claim his prominence as one of the best illustrators of cowboys and the West. In Too Tall Thomas Rides the Grub Line, Rice’s illustrations bring the reality of cowboy life to light with humor and detail certain to delight young readers.
About the Author/Illustrator
Author/illustrator James Rice (1934-2004) produced sixty books, including the illustrations for Pelican’s treasured The Night Before Christmas Series. Mr. Rice’s first book, the well-loved classic Cajun Night Before Christmas, has more than 750,000 copies in print. Young readers also enjoy his Cowboy Night Before Christmas, Redneck Night Before Christmas, and Texas Alphabet. With over 1.5 million copies of his books in print, Mr. Rice ranks among the nation’s best-selling creators of children’s books, receiving awards from Printer Industries of America and the Children’s Book Council.
TOO TALL THOMAS RIDES THE GRUB LINE
Written and illustrated by James Rice
JUVENILE FICTION / Westerns
32 pp. 8 1/2 x 11
31 color illus.
Ages 5-8 Grades K-3
ISBN: 9781589801776 hc