Lexie the Word Wrangler

Colorful language abounds in the clever, playful text, which will amuse kids. . . . Teachers, meanwhile, will appreciate the references to compound words, anagrams, and other wordplay. Created in a rather childlike style that perfectly suits the story's droll, understated tone, Hartland's expressive gouache paintings include enough detail to help kids visualize the scenes, while illustrating the action with considerable wit. Highly recommended for reading aloud, just for the fun of it.

Hartland's quirky gouache illustrations, reminiscent of Maira Kalman's work, play up the Western-style humor. . . . Here's hoping Van Slyke and Hartland will round up some more nifty yarns, as this is clever wordplay to share with kids.

K-Gr 2--Lexie is the "best wrangler west of the Mississippi, and everyone [knows] it." She is not just any kind of wrangler. Lexie captures letters and words with her lasso and puts them together to form new ones. She transforms a "p-e-s-t" into a group of furry "p-e-t-s" and lassoes an ear of corn and a loaf of bread to make "cornbread." One day, Lexie notices that letters and words are going missing or are unnecessarily being introduced at her ranch (the "dogies" become "doggies" after someone unleashes a gaggle of lowercase g's, for instance). Lexie goes on a mission to find the culprit and stop all of the word madness. While introducing spelling, compound words, and the intricacies of language to young readers is essential, this might not be the best place to start. Many of the words that Lexie wrangles are spelled out with her lasso in an exaggerated, curvy script that will not be accessible to those learning these concepts. There are many examples of Lexie's "word wrangling" throughout that interrupt the flow of the narrative, stopping it in its tracks at times. Hartland's bright gouache illustrations capture the many colors of the American West as well as various aspects of the cowboy lifestyle. A "dictionary of wrangler words" appears in the back matter for those who may not be familiar with the many cowgirl terms used in the book. VERDICT An additional purchase for those looking for stories about spelling and cowgirls.--Christopher Lassen, BookOps: The New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Lexie is a cowgirl, but she wrangles words, not cattlea a concept that Van Slyke and Hartland explore with droll wordplay and bold, folk arta style artwork. Lexieas talents include growing letters into words (aturns to at cat and cattleon a tree), tying words together ( aShe could take a stick of butter and a pesky fly and make a beautiful butterflya), and storytelling, but someone is causing mischief by mixing up words. aAinat no fun sleeping out under the rats, a grumbles Lexie after stargets jumbled. Luckily for Lexie, the culprit is an apprentice in the making. Luckily for readers, Van Slyke and Hartland deliver linguistic delights on every page. Compound words, anagrams, word chains, punsa is there anything Lexie (and this book) canat do? Ages 5a 8. Authoras agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustratoras agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Apr.) Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.