The Toughest Cowboy

One of my favorite books to read with the kids is The Toughest Cowboy by John Frank.  This is the tale of Grizz Brickbottom and his cowboy friends out on the trail.  These weren’t just any cowboys.  These were the roughest and toughest cowboys you ever saw.  Grizz decides one day to he wants a companion.  He decides to get a dog.  The cowboys were amazed when Grizz brings back a poodle named Foofy.  Foofy only ate French food, needed a bath and her hair brushed (something the cowboys rarely did), and loved when someone sang her to sleep.  The cowboys were reluctant at first but soon came to love Foofy.

The kids loved learning all about these cowboys and of the real life cowboys that rode on the Chisholm Trail.  We talked about rules for branding and the kids each designed their own brands.  We even made our brands out of pipe cleaners.  After that, we got to see how good their roping skills were with a hula hoop and a classroom cow.  For homework the kids each made their own wanted posters and made up their own cowboy names.