"Kimmel spins out
an original yarn featuring Pecos Bill, Slue Foot Sue, their five children and
18,376 hamsters. ... Using a palette of invitingly warm, pale hues, Whatley
depicts squads of smiling, irresistibly cute hamsters in close-up ground level
and underground scenes being herded by broad-faced, comically confused-looking
"cow" pokes in full western
gear."
—Kirkus
Review,
August 15,
2007
"Inspired by a
school in Texas where children helped a commercial breeder take care of
thousands of hamsters, Kimmel’s tall tale is sure to make young readers
smile."
—School
Library Journal,
October
2007
"Kids will
delight in the cowboy slang, the notion of a storybook legend as a dad, and the
irresistibly exaggerated silliness in both the words and the clearly outlined,
dust-colored watercolors. Particularly memorable are the close-ups of the
thundering hamster
stampede."
—Booklist,
October 1,
2007
"The story is
cute, and the watercolor illustrations are very attractive. The book will fit
nicely in to units on tall tales or cattle drive history, and it would make a
fun read-aloud for younger students.
...Recommended."
—Library
Media Connection,
January
2008
