Giddy-Up Daddy!

K-Gr 1—"Once there was a dad who was really good at playing horsey. Seriously, he was the best." One day, he is kidnapped by horse rustlers. His daughter and infant son track him down to find that he has been entered in a rodeo. When he spies his children, he bucks the bad guys out of the arena, the kids climb on his back, and the race is on. They gallop off to hide in a tent and find themselves atop a high wire with the rustlers close behind. They zoom down a slide and through The Flaming Hoop of Doom! and hide in the midst of a polo match. With the rustlers hot on their trail, Dad and the kids rocket around a dirt track and win the Kentucky Derby. They keep going, all the way to Canada, where the siblings reveal themselves to be Canadian Mounties. After they capture the bad guys, Dad trots them back home, just in time for dinner. The preposterous story makes sense when the last illustration reveals a backyard full of toys that represent the scenes of the adventures and the stuffed-animal bad guys. Cummings enlivens this silly romp with energetic cartoonlike illustrations that feature the galloping dad and his daredevil kids in the forefront of every scene. The illustrations vary from spot drawings to full spreads, with the page-turning action moving toward the right. This rollicking read is sure to be a hit with horsey lovers everywhere.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT