This historical fiction picture book shares the true story of a black cowboy named Bob Lemmons. Bob, who was once a slave and never learned from books, learns from the animals around him. He learns to read their movements and guesses their next moves. He has a special job: He is a cowboy. And in this story, his job is to get a group of mustangs back in the corral. The art featured by Jerry Pinkney are these beautiful watercolor paintings that really highlight the action of herding horses. The words are sufficient to telling the story but its the art that is truly the highlight! ( )

Want to read about a day in the life of a cowboy? Enjoy looking at pictures of horses? This is the book for you! Bob is a mustang whisperer. He alone can catch them and bring them to the corral. ( )

The true story of Bob Lemmins is a tale of passion and perseverance. The language is most appropriate for older children as it is extremely poetic, uses higher level vocabulary and explores some issues that some may find inappropriate for younger children. Bob is a black cowboy that has the ability to wrangle wild horses that most did not at the time. He was able to do this by making the horses feel as if he was one of them. With incredible patience, often taking days, Bob would build a relationship with the herd of horses. There are so many opportunities to build critical thinking skills utilizing this book. ( )

Based off the true life of Bob Lemmons who was famous for his ability to track wild horses. He rides his horse, Warrior, picks up the trail of mustangs, Bob then approaches the herd of horses, and tries to make himself look only like a horse by laying down and trying to mask his smell. Bob runs with the wild horses day and night until they accept his presence. Bob and Warrior then challenge the stallion for leadership of the wild herd. Bob leads the mustangs across the wide plains and for one last spectacular run before guiding them into the corral. Bob's job is done, but he dreams of galloping with Warrior forever to where the sky and land meet.
Classroom:
I thought this was a great story depicting how wild the west was at that time. The illustrations were amazing, I think that this book could be used to help students to illustrate their own wild west. How did the West look when there weren't all the buildings here? What animals were grazing the plains?
I also think that it could be used for teaching stereotypes. A Black cowboy is not popular thinking when you discuss cowboys. I think this would be a great lesson for kids to think of other stereotypes that are not true. Critical thinking: why do these stereo types still exist?

'Black Cowboy Wild Horses' is written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This is a true story about a former black slave who became a cowboy named Bob Simmons. The book shows how the cowboy was one of the best of the best at tracking herds of horses, having them accept him and his horse, Warrior, and take over them as leader. Lester and Jerry have us go on one of these journeys, tracking down a herd. They show us how he tracks a herd down, how long he will follow them, and what he will do to have them see him as one of them. That is how Bob Simmons sees himself out in the frontier as well; as one of the horses who love to move so fast the sky and earth blur past his eyes. ( )