Museum Education Kits 

The South Dakota State Historical Society offers education kits to South Dakota classrooms and other groups. Each kit contains hands-on objects, relevant lesson text, ready-to-use worksheets, and a variety of fun and unique activities. For more information or to schedule an Education Kit please contact Ronette Rumpca by e-mail Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us or telephone 605-773-6011.

South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit
Cowboys and Ranch Life

Bibliography

Note: Libraries holding the books are listed by their South Dakota Library Network PALS codes.  Book summaries are also from the SDLN PALS database.

Biography

Keating, Bern.  Famous American cowboys. Chicago : Rand McNally, c1977. Biographical sketches of nine cowboys including the cowboy showman, Will Rogers, Richard King, the cattle baron, and Fredric Remington, an artist whose drawings portrayed cowboy life. 92 p.

Libraries: SDA SDS MIT LVE SPF EMS

Miller, Robert Henry. Cowboys. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Silver Burdett Press, c1991. Examines the contributions Black cowboys have made to this country and to the legacy of the West, focusing on the lives of Dead Wood Dick, Cherokee Bill, Mary Fields, and Bill Pickett. Includes bibliographical references. 80 p.

Libraries: RCP PHM

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Bill Pickett, rodeo ridin’ cowboy. San Diego : Harcourt Brace & Co., c1996. Describes the life and accomplishments of the son of a former slave whose unusual bulldogging style made him a rodeo star. Includes bibliographical references. 32 p.

Libraries: RCP SBR SDS SDW USD SDD LVE MPL YCL

Fiction

Demarest, Chris L. The cowboy ABC.  New York : DK Pub., 1999.  An alphabet book featuring words that are related to cowboys and their way of life, such as appaloosa and tumbleweed. Unpaged.

Libraries: SDD FGH JHE RPL

Johnston, Tony. The cowboy and the black-eyed pea. New York : Putnam’s, c1992.  In this adaptation of “The Princess and the Pea,” the wealthy daughter of a Texas rancher devises a plan to find a real cowboy among her many suitors. Unpaged.

Libraries: MPL YCL

Ketteman, Helen. Bubba the cowboy prince : a fractured Texas tale. New York : Scholastic Press, 1997. Loosely based on “Cinderella,” this story is set in Texas, the fairy godmother is a cow, and the hero, named Bubba, is the stepson of a wicked rancher. Unpaged.

Library: SIOUXLAND LIBRARIES

Khalsa, Dayal Kaur. Cowboy dreams. New York : C.N. Potter, c1990.  A little city girl wants to grow up to be a cowboy. 24 p.

Library: YANKTON COMM

Loomis, Christine.  Cowboy bunnies. New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997.  Little bunnies spend their day pretending to be cowboys: riding their ponies, mending fences, counting cows, eating chow, and singing cowboy tunes until it is time for bed.

Library: YANKTON COMM

Rounds, Glen. Cowboys. New York : Holiday House, c1991. Follows a cowboy from sunup to bedtime as he rounds up cattle, kills a rattlesnake, and plays cards in the bunkhouse after dinner. 32 p. 

Library: YANKTON COMM

Scott, Ann Herbert.  Someday rider. New York : Clarion Books, c1989.  Kenny longs to be a cowboy like his father and older brothers, and finally his sympathetic mother teaches him how to ride.  32 p.

Library: YANKTON COMM

Tucker, Kathy.  Do cowboys ride bikes?  Morton Grove, Ill. : A. Whitman, 1997. Humorous rhyming answers to fourteen questions about what it’s like to be a cowboy. Unpaged. 

Library: SIOUXLAND LIBRARIES

Non-Fiction

Ancona, George.  Sheep Dog. New York : Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, c1985.  Describes the various breeds of dogs used to guard and herd sheep, explains how they work, and discusses the importance of these dogs to the sheep industry.  64 p.

Libraries: SDS LVE FGH YCL

Anderson, Joan. Cowboys : roundup on an American ranch. New York : Scholastic Inc., c1996.  A pictorial essay on cowboys, focusing on the annual round-up at the Eby Ranch in Faywood, New Mexico. 46 p.

Libraries: RCP SBR SDS SDD LVE WMS MPL YCL

Brady, Peter.  Sheep. Mankato, Minn. : Bridgestone Books, c1996.  Introduces the farm animal which is raised for its meat and for its woolly coat. Includes a brief explanation of how to make yarn. Includes bibliographical references and index. 24 p.

Libraries: RCP AML

Christian, Mary Blount. Hats are for watering horses. Chicago : Rand McNally, c1976. Describes the life of a cowboy of the old West in terms of the clothing he wore. 60 p.

Library: PIERRE PUBLIC

Cody, Tod. The cowboy’s handbook : how to become a hero of the wild West . New York : Cobblehill Books, c1996.  An introduction to the clothes, horses, work, and day-to-day life of the nineteenth-century cowboy. Includes instructions for a variety of related activities and projects.

29 p.

Libraries: SDD MIT SPF MPL

Davis, Alvin G.  A day in the life of a cowboy. Mahwah, N.J. : Troll Associates, 1991. Describes, in text and photographs, the activities and duties of a Texas cowboy on the first day of the spring roundup. 32 p.

Library: SIOUXLAND LIBRARIES

Gibbons, Gail.  Yippee-yay! : a book about cowboys and cowgirls. Boston : Little, Brown, c1998. Explains and illustrates the equipment, work, and lifestyle of cowboys and cowgirls in the Old West.  32 p.

Libraries: SBR SDS SDD FGH RPL MPL

Gorsline, Marie.  Cowboys. New York : Random House, c1978. Describes the life of the cowboys in the old West, how they ate, slept, dressed, tamed horses, drove cattle, lived on the trail, and spent their leisure time. 32 p.

Libraries: BHS SDS STG MIT WAT MPL

Greene, Carla.  Cowboys: what do they do? New York, Harper & Row [1972] Describes a modern cowboy’s varied activities from fall cattle roundup to summer rodeo performing. 64 p.  (Fiction)

Libraries: SDD AML RPL

Janeczko, Paul B. Home on the range : cowboy poetry. New York : Dial Books, c1997. Nineteen poems celebrate cowboy life. 38 p.

Libraries: SDS SDD EMS MMS

Kalman, Bobbie. Bandannas, chaps, and ten-gallon hats. New York : Crabtree Pub. Co., c1999.  Describes the various articles of clothing worn by cowboys and others who lived in the western United States during the nineteenth century. 32 p.

Libraries: AML LVE

Kalman, Bobbie.  Hooray for sheep farming! New York : Crabtree Pub. Co., c1998. Introduces the farming of sheep for wool, covering such aspects as shearing, lambs, sheep dogs, wool processing, farm maintenance, and the proper care of sheep. 32 p. 

Libraries: SDS HPL

Landau, Elaine. Cowboys. New York : F. Watts, 1990.  Depicts how cowboys lived in the Old West, describes their methods of raising cattle, and discusses their pastimes. Includes bibliographical references and index. 63 p.

Libraries: SBR SDD WAT

Matthews, Leonard. Cowboys. Vero Beach, FL : Rourke Publications, 1989. Describes the development of cattle ranches and the day-to-day life and work of the cowboy. 30 p.

Libraries: SDS STG SDD MIT RPL SPF MPL MDM

McGinty, Alice B.  Sheepherding dogs : rounding up the herd. New York : PowerKids Press, 1999.  Describes the life of Sparkle, a border collie that works as a sheep dog, examining the training and effort involved for sheep-herding dogs to do their job. 24 p.

Library: Rapid City Public

Moon, Dolly M. My very first book of cowboy songs : 21 favorite songs in easy piano arrangements. New York, N.Y. : Dover, 1982.  Includes “Goodbye, ol’ Paint,” “Sweet Betsy from Pike,” “Shenandoah,” and “The streets of Laredo”. 37 p.

Library: Northern State Univ

Paladino, Catherine.  Spring fleece: a day of sheep shearing. Boston : Joy Street Books, c1990.  Text and photographs follow two sheep shearers through their day of rounding up sheep, shearing them, and bundling the fleeces, and establish connections between the fleeces and the wool making up many articles of clothing.  48 p.

Libraries: RCP SDS SDD JHE WAT

Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw.  Maggie, a sheep dog. New York : Dodd, Mead, 1986. Follows Maggie, a type of Hungarian sheep dog known as a Kuvasz, as she protects her sheep, runs with the flock, and greets new baby lambs in the spring.  47 p.

Libraries: RCP SDS STG SDD WAT YCL

Pelta, Kathy. Cattle trails : get along little dogies. Austin, Tex.: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, c1997. Describes the history and customs of life along the American cattle trails. Includes bibliographical references. 96 p.

Libraries: SDS EMS

Rounds, Glen. The cowboy trade. New York, Holiday House [1972]  Describes the life of a cowboy, his dress, his daily tasks, and his duties during roundups and cattle drives. 95 p.

Libraries: BHS NSU RCP SDA SDS STG AML MIT HPL SPF PHM WAT MPL YCL

Scott, Ann Herbert. Cowboy country. New York : Clarion Books, c1993.  An “old buckaroo” tells how he became a cowboy, what the work was like in the past, and how this life has changed. 44 p.

Libraries: RCP SBR SDS STG USD SDD MIT LVE FGH SPF WAT MPL YCL

Silcott, Philip B. Cowboys.  Washington: National Geographic Society, c1975. Gives an account of the life of a contemporary cowboy and his cattle ranch. 32 p.

Libraries: SBR SDS STG SDD AML MIT LVE SPF

Table of Contents

For More Information on Education Kits please contact:
Ronette Rumpca
Curator of Interpretations
605-773-6011
Ronette.Rumpca@state.sd.us