Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy

by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)

This is the true tale of the feisty cowboy-child who became the most famous black rodeo performer who ever lived. A note about the history of the black West and a bibliography are included. “The text is fascinating, and the oil paintings on scratchboard are full of energy and motion, matching the book’s powerful mood.”-- School Library Journal

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, History, African American, Nonfiction, Childrens, Cultural

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 20 books for children, including the Caldecott Honor Book and Coretta Scott King Honor Book Duke Ellington, illustrated by Brian Pinkney; Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award; and Alvin Ailey, a Parenting Publication Gold medal winner.

Pinkney's newest books include Meet the Obamas and Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, which has garnered three starred reviews and has been named one of the "Best Books of 2009" by School Library Journal. In 2010, Andrea's book entitled Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, was published on the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro, North Carolina, sit-ins of 1960.

Her mother is a teacher and her father is a great storyteller, so growing up surrounded by books and stories is what inspired Andrea Davis Pinkney to choose a career as an author. The first official story she remembers writing was in second grade — it was about her family. Pinkney was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Connecticut. She went to Syracuse University, where she majored in journalism. After college, she followed her dream and worked as an editor for Essence magazine, but after watching her husband, Caldecott Award-winning artist Brian Pinkney, illustrate children's books, she decided to switch jobs and became involved in book publishing.

Andrea Davis Pinkney currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/andrea-d...

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting biography of a 19th-century African American Texas cowboy who became a rodeo star known for his unusual bulldogging technique. I was surprised to learn in the afterword at the end of the book that one in four cowboys back then were black. That sure wasn't the way cowboys were depicted in the westerns I used to watch on TV when I was a kid. It's nice to get a more realistic view. Recommended.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gotta say, if you can take down a cow by biting its lip, you get four stars from me. Holy moly.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Citation: Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy, Andrea Pinkney, Brian Pinkney (illustrator), Harcourt Brace, 1996, 25p. Junior Book-Biography

Genre: Biography

Summary: This book is the story of a Black cowboy who was famous for inventing Bulldogging and performing rodeo feats.

Critique: a. This book has wonderful scratchboard illustrations enhanced with oil paint to give the story a complementary rustic feel, but it is the author’s style that makes this account of Bill Pickett’s life most memorable.
b. The author’s use of diction makes the account strong, western, and lively, like Bill Pickett.
c. The best example of this in the book is on page 16. After Bill has performed his first bulldogging act the text recounts the spectators responses, “He throwed that beast but good! That cowboy’s brave clear down to his gizzards! Hot-diggity-dewlap!”

Curriculum Connection: This book could be used with upper elementary and middle school social studies curriculum- US History (westward migration, rodeo, and famous Black Americans) or language arts (study of dialects).

[Andrew Upchurch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book highlights the story of an African American cowboy who was best known for inventing Bulldogging and preforming in the rodeo. As Bill, the African American rodeo master, grows older he starts preforming all across the country. He later accepts a job working for the renowned Wild West Show where he proves that he is one of the best. The scratchboard illustrations in the book along with the detailed oil paintings makes this book an excellent read. This book would be another perfect tool used for upper elementary which could tie into US history or it could be used in a Language Arts curriculum to introduce different dialects. I personally liked how this book centers on an African American who was very successful at what he is passionate about. We do not see enough books that depict successful African Americans succeeding in their everyday lives so for that reason I really liked this book.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy is a children's picture book written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney. It is a cursory biography of Bill Pickett from a feisty cowboy-child to become the most famous black rodeo performer ever.

February, at least in my part of the world is Black History Month, which I plan to read one children's book, particularly a biography, which pertains to the subject everyday this month. Therefore, I thought that this book would be apropos for today.

Willie M. "Bill" Pickett was a cowboy, rodeo, Wild West show performer and actor. In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

The text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. It recounts the childhood of Bill Pickett and his dream to be a real cowboy – a rodeo performer, peppered with cowboy or western idioms. Towards the end, there is a brief history of black cowboys and how the west was settled from the African American perspective. The illustrations are drawn rather well and depicted the narrative rather nicely, which is reminiscent of scratch-board art.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It depicts the early life of Bill Pickett and his dream to become a rodeo performer. From the feistiest boy South of Abilene to become a famous rodeo performer, renowned for his bulldogging stunt – one that he created.

All in all, Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy is a wonderful, informative, and inspirational biography of Bill Pickett.

[Madelyn Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Pickett, is the most celebrated black cowboy of all time. He is a rodeo star that as been honored with a postage stamp and induction into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He is a mythical figure known as for taming a steer by biting an animal upper lip.

I liked the included history of the Black West in the back of the book. I disliked that the book seemed dated.

The book talks about postage stamps. I would print off blank stamp templates. I would have my students each decorate their stamp to represent a hobby or talent they enjoy. After, I would hang the stamps up in my classroom and have each student vote for which stamp they like the best. I would have the students place tally marks under their favorite stamp. After everyone voted, as a class we would create a bar graph to show which stamps ranked
higher. We would also make another graph to see if there was any common hobbies of the class. The last graph we would make would be the amount of students who have been and have not been to the rodeo.

[📚Linda Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea Pinkney excels at using the vernacular used in cowboy work in this book about the cowboy Bill Pickett. Pair it with Brian Pinkney’s vibrant and dynamic drawings and the reader experiences Bill Pickett’s contribution to American history with interest and admiration.

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Pickett is an interesting character. I love non-fiction. The writing felt contorted. I've read many books of hers that I love because of their lyrical qualities. This was not my favorite. But, it's good enough.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it is good to read children's books to get a background on something -- it is like watching a video in way, getting more of a **feel** for a subject. Nice "For further reading" section, too.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This inspiring biography of Bill Pickett is beautifully written by Andrea D. Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pickney. It also contains an author's note at the end about other Black cowboys and a bibliography for further reading.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fast-moving, exciting tale of a young boy growing into the most famous rodeo rider ever, though I hate his method of "bulldogging". Not really into rodeo, though, so I may not be the best judge.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite things about this book are its use of colloquial language and its historical connection with my part of Texas.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for this gritty biography of an amazing cowboy

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for kids

[Kayla Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Bill, an African American boy aspiring to be a cowboy, with a lot of spunk who discovers he can bulldog on his own by biting down on the lips of bulls with his teeth. As Bill grows older he starts performing his bulldog tricks and riding skills in rodeos across the country and is asked to join a renowned Wild West Show where he’s acclaimed as one of the best. The major themes in this book are the rodeo, cowboys, and the importance of family. This book could be used in a lot of different ways across the curriculum including teaching black history, the history of cowboys, and talking about the history of the rodeo. This is a great book to teach elementary ages students about black cowboys especially. When most people think of cowboys they think of white people, but there is actually history that there were many black cowboys, including Bill Pickett. This is a great way to expose students to history that is not mentioned in many history texts, if any. It can also be a great way to teach older students that research can be a great tool as history textbooks (especially older ones) may be missing important information that you will have to discover using other sources on your own. This could lead to doing research projects on people groups that they are interested in that they feel they haven’t been represented much in their texts thus far. I would recommend this book for 1st through 3rd graders.

Pinkney, A. D. (1996). Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy. Illus. B. Pinkney. New York, NY: Gulliver Books.

[Kaelyn O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Bill Pickett, an African American cowboy known for inventing Bulldogging and preforming in the rodeo. As he gets older he starts to travel and preform all around the country, and eventually accepts a job with the Wild West Show. With the Wild West Show he proves to be one of the best rodeo cowboys around. I wasn't a huge fan of this story but I wouldn't go as far to say that it isn't a good book. The illustrations are very unique because they are done in scratchboard and oil painting, but the story itself did not capture my attention for long. I think this would be a good book for people who are more interested in cowboys or being a rodeo cowboy but for me it just wasn't my favorite. This book does have an interesting aspect that you could bring into the classroom in that you could talk about American history and the wild west or even to introduce new dialects to students. I haven't read that many books that I would consider doing that with so I think that that may be a very useful tool when it comes to using this book with students.

[Stacy Nyikos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pinkney starts the telling of Bill Pickett’s story before his birth, explaining how the main character’s family got to Texas. While it adds depth to the story, a more moving start would have been where the action begins, when Bill sees a bulldog lip-biting a cow and holding it fast. Do we need the whole story of a famous historical character, or just the main event that made them famous? Clearly, it depends in part on the figure and what they did, but not totally. Action hooks readers and brings stories to life. Maybe less on either end – before birth and after his show days – would have made this a more succinct and more entertaining read.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another African-American that I have never heard of. I loved how he became the first African-American Rodeo star, and his ability to bring a bull down, and the event that he created still exists today, under a new name. If you would like to find out what that event is, read the book to find out. The illustrations are incredible, and are so complimentary to the book. Andrea Davis Pinkney knows how to tell the life of a person in a way that keeps you wanting to know more. I will have this book in my classroom library as well. It can be used as a mentor text in so many different ways.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the strangest books i read lately. pickett had an unusual way of getting bullsto obey him.

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read! My students loved learning about bulldogging!

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this to a few fourth graders, I realized that this generation does not have much exposure to the wild west.