The story is very clever and the main character is very strong minded and witty. I loved how the voice of the main character never faltered. She always had a south-western tone to her voice. This is a great book for a teacher to do a lesson on voice of character or how to stay persistent with how a character sounds. I can also see myself putting my own future children to bed while reading them this story. It is a fun and adventurous story that has a few lessons to tell. ( )

Note: I received an unbound galley of this book from the publisher and a digital galley through NetGalley. ( )

Rodeo Red and her canine pal, Rusty the stuffed dog, are inseparable. Until, that is, the day that Sideswiping Sam - AKA, Rodeo's squalling baby brother - steals the pooch and refuses to return him. Rodeo does everything she can to get her plaything back, but until her Aunt Sal sends her a new plaything, she has nothing with which she can bargain...

The common childhood experience of adjusting to a new sibling and getting into a conflict with them over a plaything is given a western flavor in Rodeo Red, which is author Maripat Perkins' picture-book debut. The language here is inventive and fun, provided one doesn't mind a little dialect and slang, and the artwork by Molly Idle, who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for her Flora and the Flamingos, is colorful and cute. My only real qualm is that I think the mom (I mean Sheriff) is a little unsympathetic in the story, in that she allows the baby to steal Rodeo's boon companion, and makes no effort to set things right. Leaving that aside, this is one I would recommend to anyone looking for entertaining new sibling and/or sibling rivalry stories for younger children. ( )

Cute book, but unless the reader is familiar with western talk he or she might have trouble with some of the phrases in the book.

Fun text and appealing illustrations. Good for read aloud. ( )