Since 1926, Pelican Publishing Company has been committed to publishing books of quality and permanence that enrich the lives of those who read them.
Westerns
One sleepy morning, two hungry cowpokes decide to make a big, hot buttermilk biscuit. Cowboy Jack kneads the soft dough and adds three pats of butter and a smear of strawberry jam to give the buttermilk biscuit a face before setting the skillet on the fire to cook. When the biscuit is done cooking, out pops a buttermilk biscuit boy—and with him, a whole mess of trouble!
A cultural spin on the classic Chicken Little tale, this story follows Chachalaca Chiquita, a colorful southwestern bird, through her journey after a pebble falls from the sky and hits her right on the head. On a mission to tell the jefe (boss) that the sky is falling, Chachalaca Chiquita joins the feathered flock of Lina Gallina, the prairie hen, and her chicks and heads to the mountain.
Buddy and Buck Bunion, known as the dumbest boys in Texas and worthless rascals, have met their match with Granny Gert. After being chased out of Amarillo, the Bunion Brothers ask Granny Gert for a job. She agrees to give them a chance but threatens to sic Mad Dog on them if they don’t behave. Everything is fine until Buddy and Buck both fall in love with Starla Scissors, Granny Gert’s granddaughter.
Holt Collier is best known as the guide who led President Roosevelt on the historic bear hunt that resulted in the naming of the Teddy bear. In his younger days, Holt’s adventures were extremely risky. From his days as a scout in the Civil War to the time he helped break up a gang of Mississippi River pirates, he always had a thirst for high adventure. And he always knew how to handle the danger. Hardcover.
Kick is the greatest cowboy in the West. But when his ego swells to the size of Texas, this longhorn-lassoing fella’ becomes downright mean. Not even his twenty-gallon cowboy hat can keep his attitude from growing. Kick is so mean that some folks even suspect that his snarl can straighten out a scorpion’s tail. Soon enough, all of the other cowboys are itchin’ to avoid him.
A tall tale based on the life of the frontier cowboy, or “cow hunter” as they are called in Florida, Kissimmee Pete, Cracker Cow Hunter is a fast-paced adventure that includes encounters with starvin’ mosquitoes, hairless bears, and gators the size of canoes!
This tale takes readers on a romp into the Wild West and reveals how America’s favorite cowboy invented the ten-gallon hat. In an attempt to cover his noggin, Pecos Bill wears a baseball cap, a firefighter’s helmet, and even a tree branch, until he finally comes up with the right solution. Kids will laugh at his hilarious antics and enjoy searching for the armadillo and the salamander, hidden on each page. Vibrant illustrations capture the comedic tone of the story and a glossary offers a list of cowboy terms.
Young Phoebe is raised as a Southwestern belle, which made her a genteel gal who was also a great rider and roper. One day she enters the territory rodeo to compete against the ill-mannered Tumbleweed Gang and their reign as champions is over. Clifford, Elmo, and Eustace Tumbleweed decide to get rid of sissified Phoebe Clappsaddle once and for all. Hardcover.
When the governor of Texas asks Phoebe Clappsaddle to officially welcome the new schoolteacher, Phoebe is happy to oblige. Wearing her grandfather’s tin sheriff’s star, Phoebe must contend with mishap upon mishap in her quest to preserve good manners. But when the rowdy Tumbleweed Gang ransacks the town of Marathon, she realizes this is a job for the sheriff: Sheriff Phoebe Clappsaddle, that is. Hardcover.
Sheriff Phoebe Clappsaddle is back—just in time for the Christmas holidays. Mail doesn’t come every day in the territory south of Big Spring, west of Marathon, north of Terlingua, and east of El Paso, so Phoebe is delighted to receive a parcel. But a mule-mail mix-up leads to another adventure for the high-spirited young sheriff. Hardcover.
In this adorable counting book, ten Texas babies mosey into town, and each one gets into mischief. Wearing boots and cowboy hats and eating rice and beans, they have themselves a fine time. Children will hoot and holler as they count down and up again with the babies as they swim in the creek, follow an armadillo, find Grandmaw’s bonnet, and chase a longhorn.
In thirty-three parables, master storyteller David Davis retells age-old lessons about life, fairness, and honesty with a Texas twist. From classic stories, such as “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs,” to new western legends, like “The Cowpoke Who Fooled His Friends,” this collection teaches children the importance of telling the truth and treating everyone with respect.
In this Texas-themed retelling of the classic Nutcracker story, historical details blend with fiction and magic warps reality at Fort Davis in 1883.
Everyone knows that Texans do things in a big way, and this humorous retelling of a classic tale reinforces that notion. From the very first page, even the youngest readers will be engaged by the ridiculous antics of this very tall Texan as he tries to rid himself of the tiniest of problems. With its rhythmic word chains and litany of creatures, every page calls for read-along fun. From a flea to a cactus to a bull, every verse adds yet another layer of silliness.
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.
Texas Jack, the jackrabbit, sez that after the Civil War, millions of Longhorn cattle roamed the plains of Texas, and that cowboys would herd the cattle and bring them to markets 1,000 miles to the North. This is what they called a Trail Drive.
From the front cover right on through to the last page, Susan Holt Kralovansky has created a rootin’, tootin’, cowboy Christmas extravaganza! Drawing on her skills as a children’s educator, librarian, and fiber artist, Kralovansky transforms the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas with a Texas flair.
Vaqueros were cowboys who roamed across the plains of South America for many years before American cowboys began to appear. A chihuahua named Chi Chi helps tell the story of these proud men, who herded cattle first brought by the explorers in the 1500s. This cute little chihuahua is along for the entire story, from the time the cattle strayed away from their owners to the time the rich Charros claimed them as their own and hired Indians to herd them. Hardcover.