Tall in the Saddle

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University and the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

A father and his son play cowboys early in the morning. When the father
leaves the house for work, the young boy, wondering where his father
goes, follows him to the end of the street. In the young boy’s mind,
his father has a very interesting day. First, Dad borrows Mrs.
Fussport’s bike, and it magically transforms into a wild bronco. Then
Dad’s tie becomes a lasso, and he hogties tattletale Jen and
mean-mouthed Ben. The boy’s tricycle also becomes a horse, and he and
his dad leave the city street and hit the dusty trail. Soon they become
involved in a cattle drive and Dad chases away the Rotten Rustler Gang.
Then father and son ride back to the city after a long day’s work, and
Dad frees Jen and Ben. After Dad pats his horse good night, it magically
returns to its bike form. Dad swings his son onto his shoulders, and the
boy rides home—tall in the saddle.

Readers will thoroughly enjoy the young boy’s imaginative tale of his
father’s day at work. The many double-page illustrations clearly
extend the text. The hues of the watercolor pictures effectively depict
the place and time of the settings within the story. Highly recommended.