Boss of the Plains: The Hat That Won the West

by D.K. Publishing, Laurie Carlson

A picture book biography illustrated by a Caldecott Honor winner tells the story of John Stetson, a hat maker who moved to the American West and created the "Boss of the Plains," a popular cowboy hat still worn today.

Genres: Picture Books, History, Nonfiction, Biography, Childrens, School, Westerns

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Melki]

After years of working in his family's hat shop, young John Stetson headed westward to try and rid himself of tuberculosis. Using skills honed in his past, he created the iconic hat, then called The Boss of the Plains, embraced by cowboys, and seen in every western movie.

With colorful illustrations by Holly Meade.

[Kathryn]

This is an interesting book about how Stetson started making cowboy hats. I liked it as a tool to introduce a little bit of history and my boys liked it as it covers each of the steps originaly used to make the hat. The pictures were unique but the story drug a little, though there were some good opportunities for segways to be made, such as involving the gold rush and settlers move out West.

[Cindy]

Great illustrations, and an engaging history of the iconic Stetson hat, Boss of the Plains, and the man who designed and made the first one, John B Stetson. I'm packing this book in with my fathers 70's era Stetson - the LBJ model - some great-grandson will eventually claim that hat. It's like cinderella's slipper: Does it fit you? (Dad was short, and his hat is a small size).

But enough of my story - great book! Any kid interested in 'how the west was won' would enjoy this book, and parents and teachers can count on DK publishing for real facts.

[Elisabeth Ensor]

This was a good book about the story behind the cowboy hat by Stetson!

[Stacy]

I discovered this book on a reading list as supplemental reading for studying history from 1850-1900’s. I had never heard this story before but I loved it! This is the true story of a man who saw a problem and used his skills to fix it! A wonderful, true, inspiring, must read about John Stetson and how he came up with the idea behind the famous Stetson hat!

[Nicole Fanning]

This book is fantastic. It’s an excellent little story about the true history of an iconic piece of Americana, the cowboy hat. It’s a delightful, interesting and quick read. Perfect for making history more accessible to kids by bringing it to life through storytelling.

[Rachel]

Fun invention, western history, and biography all in one.

[Andrea]

Interesting true story with great illustrations.

[LPR]

sick as hell, i want a full length book of this

[Jackie]

Title: Boss of the Plains: The Hat That Won the West
Author: Laurie Winn Carlson
Illustrator: Holly Meade
Genre: Biography K-2
Theme(s): Hats, Journey Out West
Opening line/sentence: Everyone wore some kind of hat.
Brief Book Summary: This biography details the story of John Stetson a hat maker who designed the wide brimmed hat.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Children's Literature - Cheryl Peterson
As a young boy, John Stetson worked in his family's hat maker shop in New Jersey. He listened to tales of western adventures and dreamed of going West himself someday. Years later, Stetson contracted tuberculosis and decided he could wait no longer to pursue his dream. Off he went to the hills of Colorado, and while digging for gold, realized that a wide brimmed hat would be a great help. He designed a hat to keep the scorching sun off his face, the whipping wind from blinding him, and the rain from dripping down his back. At first, the other miners teased him about his funny looking hat, but the practicality of it caught on, and his high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat was soon in demand. Nowadays, "Stetson" hats are still being made in dozens of styles, and are an important part of Western culture. John Stetson's success story is accompanied by Meade's colorfully painted illustrations depicting western life. A picture of John Stetson and a brief biography are also included.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Kirkus Reviews
Carlson celebrates the crowning (so to speak) achievement of John Batterson Stetson, a Philadelphia hatmaker who went West for his health in the 1850s and invented the emblematic piece of cowboy gear still identified with him, heavy enough to keep off the rain, wide enough to block the sun, tough enough to stand years of abuse—or, as some said, "you can smell it across a room, but you just can't wear it out." Meade surrounds this lively odyssey with a kaleidoscope of brightly painted collage cowboy scenes, taking her ruddy-bearded artisan from his boyhood home in New Jersey to the gold fields of Pikes Peak, then back East where he found his fortune at last. Carlson closes her account with a biographical note while a cowboy poet's heartfelt tribute appears on the back of the jacket. Steer readers who want to know more about Stetson, or about western fashion in general, to M. Jean Greenlaw's Ranch Dressing (1993). (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 7-9)
Response to Two Professional Reviews: I agree with the reviews, the book is a biography not only about Stetson's invention of the hat but also his journey out west. I also agree that the illustrations are one of the strongest parts of the book. These reviews give a general summary of the book, with little analysis of the book, but do provide the reader with a preview of what the biography is about.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This books illustrations are its strongest literary element. The illustrations are bright and colorful and support the text. The text it self is easy to read with not many words on each page, making it easy for its k-2 students to read it on their own. The content of the book does a good job of telling John Stetson's story and how he came up with his idea for the wide brimmed western hat.
Consideration of Instructional Application This book would be great to introduce a lesson on the migration out west. The students can learn more about the pioneers that traveled out west and learn about what they brought with them on their journey. After the student have finished their research they can create their own list of what they would bring with them on their trip out west.

[I Contain]

Very interesting account of the invention of the cowboy hat. My kids enjoyed it!

[Ryan]

Boss of the Plains is about John Stetson, a pioneer of the West via his creation of a new hat. Growing up in a large family of hatmakers, he was already experienced in making a variety of hats. But as America was still expanding outwards, he dreamed of heading West with other travelers and building his own fortunes. And after a minor health scare, he ultimately decided to head out immediately, joining a gang of gold miners. Disappointed that his usual hat couldn't do much for him on the scorching heat, he invented a new hat that many thought looked silly. He gave it the name, Boss of the Plains, and tried to sell around many hat shops after one cowboy paid him a profitable sum for his original. His efforts paid off, as every shop started sending money orders that Stetson was able to kick off business, leaving a legacy of the pioneering West with his hat creation.

I had initially read this as a kid back then for comprehensive learning, and this was one of those stories that stuck with me afterwards. Reading this was a real nostalgic trip for me, Carlson put a lot of details into telling Stetson's story that this is more than enough for a juvenile biography of the inventor/businessman. The text is plentiful but not heavy, and the paper cutout style illustrations by Holly Meade is very memorable and adds towards Stetson's story. And it's not just my nostalgia talking here, this book is an excellent presentation in being both a biography and a story of perseverance towards reaching dream goals. If anything, I would consider this a modern classic among children's literature for sure!

[Rachelmontoya]

Main Character:John Stetson

POV:narrator

Lexile: AD830L

Age Group: Primary/learning to read

genre: biography

Summary: This story is a biography about a hat-maker that made his mark in history. When people were moving west in America, everyone wore whatever hat was available. But John Stetson, a hat-maker who had followed his dream of going West, invented a wide-brimmed, high-crowned hat that quickly became the most popular hat west of the Mississippi.

Use in the classroom: I would use this story as a supplement for the primary grades while teaching the students about how America expanded.

[Heather]

This is the inspiring story of the making of the Stetson hat. It begins with a young man making his way to the West, where there are hats of every kind, but they don't sufficiently keep off the sun and the rain. This young Stetson designs the first cowboy hat. It looks funny, but soon everyone is clamouring to get one. Truly a great story for youngsters ages 7-10.

[Janet]

Interesting picture book title that tells of John Stetson’s journey and adventures to designing and making the still worn and in production Stetson hat of Western wear. Fascinating story and John Stetson was from east of the Mississippi. This title while written for children, it is a good title for adults as well.

[Jim]

a biography of stetson and his hat. could easily have been a throw away paragraph in reader's digest or the bathroom reader, instead it is one of the most interesting books about the old west i've read.

[Matthew]

I love learning stuff when I read to my kids. I never knew there was story of the Stetson hat, but now I know it.

Read to my son at bedtime. He indicated that he liked the pictures and I hope he learned something about the wild west.

[Glenna]

This is a historical fiction book written for children of early primary school ages. It tells the tale of how John Batterson Stetson started making cowboy hats. The author uses colorful illustrations and a unique tale to introduce children to the idea of innovation.

[Elizabeth]

Evolution and creation of the famous Stetson. Bright, alive illustrations; large format. Lighthearted story of the West. (April I think is hat month; good school-age read-aloud for that or historical themes. 1860s.)

Activities: bring in/show a Stetson. Try felting. Make a paperhat.

[Lynn]

gr. 2+ This was a fun biography about John Stetson and how he designed the hat we still know as the Stetson.

[Amanda Davenport]

my favorite from the basal, possibly because we get to cut out cowboy hats

[Vanessa]

A great story about the creation of the Boss of the Plains hat. This is a Texas Bluebonnet Nominee. Good book to teach a child to be inventive.

[Lance]

I read this at school with 37 kids and my teacher so im kind of cheating.same with `tomas and the library lady

[Bridget]

Have the audio version

[Amy]

Reading Rainbow: A Three Hat Day

Bea was really fascinated with this story and wanted to get her own copy of this book.

[Hong Nguyen]

it is a lntresting book