Jackalope

The Jackalope always makes me think of the Wild West and that's where we'll be headed this summer for vacation. Only 2 more days of school left! Yahoo!

And this is the PERFECT little handmade travel shirt for my C.

The American Western legend of The Jackalope by sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel is told by a cute armadillo dressed in a cowboy hat and big boots. I always test picture books on my 5 year old who said it's "a little bit long and more of a tale than a story." I'm not sure what that means but I think it's more for the 7-10 year old age group and adults as well.


Told in a down-home folk slang "Why don't you be wishing for something you're not- It's better to be who you are!" Jack rabbit wants to be scary and his fairy Godrabbit grants his wish and gives him horns to make him fearsome. Unfortunately, every time he tells a lie his horns grow and grow until soon he gets stuck upside down like a shish kebob for a hungry coyote. A hungry coyote devours them both and then relaxes, picking his teeth with one of Jack's antlers. "The End" says the armadillo. Next page; "Ha! Just Kidding." There's a double ending to this twisted tale that builds momentum and holds many surprises. This one's fun and hilarious and definately meant to be read out loud.

In college I took a roadtrip with my roommate Jesse. We flew from NY and rented a car to dive from LA to Seattle. We had one cassette and Jackalope Eye by the Supersuckers played over and over and over. The scenery was beautiful and whenever I hear this song I think of that magical roadtrip out West.