Read ‘Em Cowboy©
Read ‘Em Cowboy© is a literacy project of the National Day of the Cowboy 501c3 organization. This program was established to encourage young people of all ages to read and write western literature and cowboy poetry. This project is a natural extension and expression of the National Day of the Cowboy mission.
Why did we start Read ‘Em Cowboy?
This project was conceived by author J.R. Sanders (The Littlest Wrangler, Some Gave All), to create an enjoyable experience and setting for young people, which could ignite or fuel an interest in the reading and writing of western literature and cowboy poetry, while at the same time, introducing them to current and past aspects of cowboy culture, western art, music, photography, rodeo, ranch work, western performing arts, pioneer heritage, history, cowboy and cowgirl heroes, and the cowboy code of conduct.
Project Goal –
The overriding goal of this project is to create an awareness of western literature and poetry and instill in young people a lifelong interest in it as a literary genre; including reading, researching, writing, and verbal story telling. We believe this awareness and involvement will in turn, contribute to the preservation of pioneer history and the promotion of cowboy culture.
Project Vision –
Read ‘Em Cowboy Circles© will be held in as many venues around the country and around the world as we are able to enlist volunteer Circle Wranglers. The number and quality of Circles will grow each year, as will attendance at each Circle. Read Em Cowboy Circles may one day be incorporated into school curriculums and community outreach programs.
Read ‘Em Cowboy Needs –
We need Circle Wrangler volunteers to organize and lead individual Read Em Cowboy Circles around the country and around the world. We also need one person to keep the whole project organized, exciting, on-track, and growing. Please email info@nationaldayofthecowboy.com if you think you would like to volunteer, either as the Read Em Cowboy Foreman or as a Circle Wrangler. Many events incorporate a Read Em Cowboy circle in their existing National Day of the Cowboy celebrations.
Possible Literary Resources –
We’d like to be able to provide Circle Wranglers with a list of potential literature they could use at their Read Em Cowboy events. Let us know what you’d like to see included on that list in terms of literature or poetry, for toddlers on up to older teens.
The Littlest Wrangler by J.R. Sanders
Wishful Watoosi by Corinne J. Brown
Smokey the Cowhorse by Will James
Any Will James book
Cowboys and Cowgirls YippeeYay by Gail Gibbons
The “Why Cowboys” series by Laurie Knowlton
Cowboy Small – Lois Lensky
B is for Buckaroo by Gleaves Whitney
Cowboy Charlie: The Story of Charles M Russell by Jeanette Winter
Toughest Cowboy by John Frank
Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Osborne
Bill Pickett by Andrea Pinkney
Charro; The Mexican Cowboy by George Ancona
Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse by Rebecca Janni
Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett
Pecos Bill by James Bowman
Little Rosie Rodeo by Lexi Kinney
Stories of Cowboys by Russell Punter
Home on the Range by Deborah Hopkinson
Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots by Rebecca Janni
I Want to Be a Cowboy by Dan Liebman
Sixteen Cows by Lisa Wheeler
In the Days of the Vaqueros by Russell Freedman
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Under the Moon and Stars by Scott Emerson