Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

by Trinka Hakes Noble, Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Looking for some diversion, a bored rancher drives to the town of Sleepy Gulch little knowing that some amazing things are happening to his wife and ranch during his absence

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Westerns, Classics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Cyndi]

Mr. H and I read this book today. Not sure if a four year old can appreciate the humor, but I loved it! I think he mostly enjoyed the terrific art and the different voices I added to the the reading. But his favorite part was the hours of “What the Hay?!” he got to treat me to afterwards. 🤣

[Ronyell]

I actually first saw this book on an episode of “Reading Rainbow” and I have instantly started to love this book! “Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” is a hilarious book written by Trinka Hakes Noble along with illustrations by Tony Ross and it is about how Rancher Hicks goes down to Sleepy Gulch to see what is happening, while his wife Elna has wild adventures on the ranch. “Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” is a truly hilarious book that children will enjoy for many years!

Trinka Hakes Noble has done it again as she tells the story of how a couple have different adventures while they are away from each other. Trinka Hakes Noble makes this story creative and hilarious at the same time as the story is set up from two different perspectives of the couples as Rancher Hicks’ side of the story is always boring and repetitive while Elna’s side of the story is full of excitement and children will easily love the two sided story setup. Tony Ross’ illustrations are hilarious and surreal as the characters are drawn crudely as they have long skinny legs and odd shaped heads and even though the illustrations look a little dreary, the events that took place in this book make the illustrations more hilarious than dark.

“Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” is an extremely creative and hilarious book about two different perspectives on the lavish life and the boring life and children will love the hilarious adventures of these two couples. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Dolly]

This is a very silly, very funny story and we had a lot of fun reading it aloud together. The absurdity and improbability of the events occuring at the ranch juxtaposed with the banality of the events occuring in "town" makes this a really entertaining tale. And the illustrations are so sterotypical, they remind me of the cartoon, "Courage the Cowardly Dog."

[Jessica]

A classic! So funny, so cute!

And, I'm sorry, but the way the wife is drawn as having a huge squashy bust right atop her apron is hilarious to me.

[seak]

This is a classic, I even memorized it for some performance contest in elementary school. It's THAT good. :)

[Patti]

“Meanwhile Back at the Ranch” is the next addition to my all time favorite little kid’s book list. It is a Reading Rainbow Book and absolutely delightful read. I have read it many times since it came out in 1987 and it’s just as charming in the current century. It was a favorite of one of my students and when she graduated from high school I gave her a copy to share with her future students. She was thrilled! (Now she’s a mom herself!)

In the tiny town of Sleepy Gulch, Farmer Hicks and his wife Elna have some extraordinary experiences – all in the same day! Farmer Hicks drives 84 miles from his farm into tired ol’ Sleep Gulch to see what’s happenin’. Elna on the other hand, decides to stay on the ranch and dig potatoes. My my my - Elna is in for a surprise…or two…or three; and Farmer Hicks comes back with his own exciting news from Sleepy Gulch…

I know there are a couple different illustrators for this book, my favorite is the original done by Tony Ross. The pictures are brilliant! Fun story! Also a 5-star winner from this retired elementary school librarian and grandma of nine!

[Keidra Polite]

This was a silly story that teaches students about luck and cause and effect. While the farmer drove 84 miles to get to town, he wife had changed alot of things while he was gone. She built new houses because she inherited money. She became a movie star because of her digging and striking oil. Her husband felt bad for leaving her so he brought her back a box of Cracker Jack's . Suprisingly, the box contained a diamond ring! The children loved this silly story when I read it to them.

[Mir]

Donated to the library by Soroptimists International of Willits in December, 1989.

[Renee Brown]

Texas tall tales program

[Spencer]

2026

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This was always my favorite children's book :)

2020

[R.K. Cowles]

4 1/4 stars

[Barbara Radisavljevic]

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it was just too unbelievable. The pictures are original, but could not really make up for the plot. An old couple lives on a ranch far from everywhere where nothing much ever happens. Rancher Hicks decides to see what's happening in Sleepy Gulch, eighty-four miles away and invites his wife Elna to come along, but she begs off saying she has to dig potatoes.

The plot consists of contrasting the dullness of Sleepy Gulch with all the things that start happening to Elna as soon as Hicks leaves. Besides all her animals having babies, she wins all kinds of prizes, strikes oil while digging potatoes, becomes a movie star, inherits her aunt's estate, and builds several wings unto the house.

Meanwhile, after watching a rousing game of checkers, getting a haircut, and witnessing the most exciting thing ever -- a turtle crossing the road, Hicks is sorry that Elna missed all the fun. So he buys her a box of Cracker Jacks before he leaves, thinking it will make her day.

When he gets home and gives Elna her present and tells her about his adventures in town, Elna says, "Shoot!. I miss everything." And then Rancher Hicks looks around at the home additions, oil wells, and other modifications to his ranch and has nothing to say but "What the hay...?!?!?!??!" And Elna opens her box of Cracker Jacks and finds a real diamond ring.

That's it. It illustrates irony, I suppose, and continually uses the "Meanwhile back at the ranch" and "Meanwhile back in Sleepy Gulch" lines to contrast the dullness where all the excitement is supposed to be with all the excitement where the dullness is supposed to be. I expected a bit more, so the book was a let down for me. I'm still trying to figure out why it was selected as a Reading Rainbow book and is still in print when some of my favorite books with much more merit than this one are out of print.

[Lynn Schlatter]

This felt like a classic example of a wasted premise. I read the synopsis of the book in my library's catalog and thought, "That sounds cute, using the phrase 'meanwhile, back at the ranch' as the foundation of a silly story about the perils of looking for excitement in the big city." But there was no subtlety to it at all; the author even included phrases like "ho-hum" and "yawn" when describing what was going on in Sleepy Gulch, as if she somehow didn't feel like describing boring stuff was enough to let her young audience know it was boring. Or maybe she thought adults reading the book aloud to kids would need a full script to get the point across. Then there was the template for Elna's good fortune, which went, "Farm animal has babies, Elna gets money, Elna uses the money to build something for the farm animals." All I could think was, "Does Elna belong to an odd cult where she's precluded from spending any money on herself, or even saving it?" And apparently all that needed to happen for excitement to begin at the ranch was for Rancher Hicks to leave it, so I'm not quite sure what lesson that gets across.

[Megan]

Summary: This hilarious book shows the excitement that can happen when you least expect it. Rancher Hicks goes into town to see if anything exiting is happening there. Nothing to exciting happens. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Elna has nothing but excitement as the cat has kittens, she wins a refrigerator, she strikes oil, and other amazing things.
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: K-3
Theme: You never know what to expect
Literary Elements: Irony, humor, repetition, dialogue
Reading Level: Transitional Readers
Curricular Uses: Read-Aloud, Independent reading, shared reading
Illustrations: Great pictures, uniquely done. Illustrations support the text.
Additional Comments: This book incorporates so much to discuss. It's ironic that Rancher Hicks believes he has has had the excitement when he leaves, but it happens at home while he is gone. There is so much humor in this book. Children will love it!

[Sherry Dale Rogers]

This book is pretty funny, though not one of my favorites, it did make me laugh.

Rancher Hicks decides to drive 84 miles to the town Sleepy Gulch for some good old excitement. Meanwhile back at the ranch, wife Elna misses out on all the fun or does she...

Rancher Hicks checks out the 12 year old wanted poster, a never ending checker game and all the towns people can't get enough of the new visitor making his way across the road. The excitement is almost too much to bare. But what happens to Elna.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Elna has a whole bunch of farm babies, strikes oil, builds a fancy mancy room for all those farm babies, meets the president, losses 20 pounds, goes blonde and stars in a movie. Whoa!

But all that is nothing compared to the excitement back in Sleepy Gulch.

Intended for ages 4-8. A truly funny wild western read.

[Connie]

This is not the best book I've ever read, and I may donate it to the school.

The rancher goes to his "sleepy" town for excitement - and wow, what an exciting day he has! Why, there's a checker game that just made a king, and it only took two weeks! The whole town turned out to see a turtle cross the road!

Meanwhile, his wife "misses everything" because she's stuck at home while more and more farm animals give birth and boring stuff like lottery tickets and oil wells happen. Shucks.

There's not much to it, but it is pretty funny the first few times. I think it'll get more use in a classroom than in a fairly small family, though.

[Kathryn]

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch both amused and exasperated me as a kid when I saw it on RR. Everything that happens in town is so painfully slow and dull! And everything that happens at the ranch is so exciting and extraordinary! Reading it now, I found my annoying adult brain trying to figure out what the "moral of the story" is (some sort of "There's No Place Like Home" perhaps?) but I think that's reading too much into it. The illustrations are really memorable for me, but I can't say as I actively like them -- but they sure do a good job of juxtaposing the droop and dreary of town with the effervescence of the ranch.

[Lydia]

The tale of Rancher Hicks visiting Sleepy Gulch, while his wife Elna stays at their ranch. For Rancher Hicks in town, the day seems to be non-stop action, between the turtle crossing main street and his buddies months long checkers game. Meanwhile, poor Elna is stuck at the ranch, where everyday things like striking oil, litters of kittens and becoming a movie star keep happening.

As a kid, I loved this book, between the crazy things happening to Elna, the animals all having babies and Rancher Hicks' "adventurous" visit to town, it is just so much fun! No content issues, though Elna is waving a bikini around in one picture, she is still fully clothed.

[Jodi Santora]

This is a very cute, funny story about a man leaving the ranch to look for excitement in town. He does all the boring, normal stuff while really exciting things happen to his wife back at the ranch. We read it and made a timeline with the top being the rancher and the bottom being his wife. The students knew when to add to the time line because it used transition words, such as "Meanwhile, back at the ranch/back in Sleepy Gulch..." every time the point of view changed. It was a fun activity for making a time line. My kids also loved the accents I used for the various characters!

[Becky B]

When the rancher goes into town and leaves his wife on the ranch he feels sorry for her all day because of the fun she is missing. Meanwhile back on the ranch, little does he know what an eventful day his wife is having. A humorous and fun story in the vein of tall tales.

When my family saw this book on Reading Rainbow back in the 90s, it became an instant favorite. I think my mom loved it just as much as we kids did, which was a good thing because we checked it out of the library a lot.

[Edna]

Nothing much happens at Rancher Hicks place so he decides to find out what's happening in town while his wife Elna stays at home. Funny, funny book that can be read at a slower pace while Hicks is in town and an exciting, quick pace while describing everything that happens in his absence "back at the ranch."

[Jonathan]

This is a fun tale from the Reading Rainbow series. While the sense of humor in the story and illustrations is excellent, there fails be any higher moral ground. I'm not sure the message that possessions are what makes life interesting is one I care to propagate, and it's not clear that the book feels otherwise.

[Jenna Bush]

This Funny fiction is about two farmers, who live on the ranch. One day, Farmer Hick lives town, and leaves Elna alone. While farmer Hicks has no luck; Elna has it all! She gets money, she's in a movie, and more! While famer Hicks in a boring empty town. My favorite part was when Elna is almost flying away from the helicopter! Please read this FUNNY book!

[Elizabeth]

This book was a cute book to just read. The illustrations were very good. Not sure what I would use this for in my teaching besides as a read aloud. Students would like the fun nature of the characters.

[S. J.]

The thing I remember most about this book is that it was on Reading Rainbow. I remember laughing hysterically every time the narrator says: "Meanwhile, back at the Ranch..." because I knew something even crazier was about to happen. This is a fun read and one that most children are going to enjoy.

[Alicia]

I loved this one. A tall tale of sorts, a married couple each have an exciting day, but in very different ways. The story is laugh-out-loud funny and would make a great read aloud. It would work well for a lesson on comparing and contrasting.

[Kelli]

A very fun & laugh out loud story told in parallel structure: One day, Farmer Hicks decides to escape the boredom of farm life by visiting the town of Sleepy Gulch. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, his wife Elna is experiencing a series of ever more exciting events!

[Sydney Hall]

"Meanwhile Back At the Ranch" is such a cute book! The farmer and his wife part ways for the day and have two completely different days. It uses lots of figurative language that could be used as a mentor text for a figurative language literary unit. Highly recommend!

[jacky]

Reading Rainbow! My library had a reading rainbow section, so I read a lot of the books featured on the show.

[Trista]

A great picture book to teach transitions and imaginative writing.