Rosie and the Rustlers

I came across this picture book at the thrift store today. I had to buy it. I'm not familiar with Roy Gerrard, but he also wrote Wagon's West, which I recognized. When I went to look this book up on Amazon to learn more about it, I was shocked to find out how much the 1995 hard cover book is going for. Amazon is asking $454.10 for that edition. Wow! Click here for details. That's not even the first edition, which came out in 1989.

When I looked for info on the paperbacks, they run from $7.40 to $44.99. Interesting. I'm talking about the original versions, I believe, which have a different cover than this one. This one is listed here, but Amazon says it's unavailable.I'm curious because I bought this book at the Salvation Army for a quarter.

I bought the book for the illustrations. I mean, really, look at those characters. They are absolutely adorable. And how can you not love those big ten gallon hats? It is most definitely a western-themed picture book — there are guns, gangs, Indians, and everything else you'd expect to find in the Old West. It's a cute story, and of course, the good guys win in the end. The excerpt on the back reads: 

While Rosie and her wranglers are off visiting their friends the Cherokee, Greasy Ben and his gang try to steal Rosie's cattle. Luckily, Utah Dan comes up with a plan to stop them. The Old West has never been more appealing than in this rip-roaring tale of ranchers vs. rustlers.

I was hooked with the illustrations. Not only that, but the main character's name is Rosie Jones — which I thought was cool. Other characters are called Fancy Dan, Salad Sam, One-Leg Smith, Singing Sid, Mad McGhee, and Utah Jim. It's definitely worth getting if you happen to come across it. Check out this illustration ...