nspired by her boys pint sized cowboy boots, Hoboken, New Jersey writer Jan Huling sat down and came up with this wild and wacky retelling of the classic story of Puss in Boots. Her illustrator husband Phil’s sunny landscapes and long, lean characters provide the perfect compliment for the book’s southern drawls and sassy humor. Together, Jan & Phil have created a rootin’-tootin’ ride through a fairy tale Texas that’s sure to be a favorite of kids and their parents alike!
From Parents’ Choice: Though the Puss in this telling of the old fairy tale wears "the purdiest pair of red snakeskin cowboy boots ever worn," he is as crafty and sly as of yore. With the story transported to Texas, the wily cat manages to marry off his penniless master to the daughter of "the biggest, the richest, and the most powerful oilman in the state of Texas," Mr. Patoot. (Let's hope Puss has checked for any Enron ties.)
From Publishers Weekly: First-timer Jan Huling retells the treasured Perrault fairy tale with a Texas twang. Deep in the wilds of Texas, a humble rodeo clown named Clem up and kicked the bucket, and it is his youngest son, Dan, who inherits Clem's scraggly old tomcat, Puss. Dan figures the only way he can profit from Puss is by cooking him into a pot of three-alarm chili and using his fur for a hatband. As clever Puss saves his hide (and earns wealth and respect for Dan) with the help of a shiny pair of red snakeskin cowboy boots, the text hews fairly faithfully to the outlines of Perrault's plot. The rootin'-tootin' cowboy vernacular gives this adaptation a fun, feisty flavor. (Why, looky here! says the oilman who substitutes for the customary king, A wild turkey! Why, I remember huntin' these with my pa when I was no bigger than a frog's hair). Phil Huling's (Moses in Egypt) watercolors depict an orange-yellow sun-baked landscape dotted with oil rigs, cacti and plenty of long, tall Texans. The stylized figures and serene compositions play straight man to the wily text. Ages 6-9.
From Booklist: PreS.-Gr. 2. In this husband-and-wife team's lively retelling, Charles Perrault's Puss has left his native France for the scrappy oilfields of Texas, but he's no less shrewd and enterprising. The lighthearted text stays close to the original story's structure: a poor man's fortune is reversed when, through a series of crafty schemes, the cat he inherited marries him off to a princess. Here, though, the details are all contemporary Texan: the king is an oilman, the royal coach is a gleaming town car decorated with steer horns, and instead of a landowning marquis, the man becomes the wealthy "Rancher Dan" at the story's end. Best of all are Puss' stylish, red snakeskin cowboy boots, worn with a swagger over scrawny feline limbs. Children will enjoy the folksy, regional phrases, such as "just hold on a dad-burned minute," and also the striking, angular watercolors, which capture the dusty landscape and larger-than-life characters with stylish humor that will show well to a crowd. Suggest this for rowdy read-alouds full of "hootin' and hollerin.'"
From Horn Book: One day ol' Clem, a Texas rodeo clown, "up and kicked the bucket," leaving three sons. The eldest inherited the pick-up truck, the second received his pa's clown suit, and Dan, the third son, "got what was left: old Puss." The basic plot follows Perrault's; however, the Hulings' retelling is set in Texas and is filled with country expressions spoken with a southwestern twang. Upon inheriting Puss, Dan is ready to turn him "into a pot o' three-alarm chili" and tan "his hide for a hatband," but Puss talks his way out of trouble, promising to make Dan "gladder than a mosquito in a blood bank." Dan accommodates Puss by buying him "the purdiest pair of red snakeskin cowboy boots ever worn by man or feline," and with a series of gifts, Puss ingratiates himself and his master with a wealthy oilman, eventually making Dan himself very wealthy and securing a promise from the oilman's daughter to be Dan's bride. The sleek illustrations give Puss and the other characters a long, lean look. Cheekily reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton (and once with a wink at Manet), the sophisticated art is an effective counterpoint to the down-home storytelling.
From School Library Journal Grade 1-3: From the French countryside to the heart of Texas is a bit of a leap, but this powerful cat lands beautifully on his feet, clad in bright, red cowboy boots. True to the original tale and to the Texas setting, this Puss hunts wild turkey and possum, negotiates with the state's "most powerful oilman," overpowers an ogre with a "Remember the Alamo" tattoo, all to help his owner. Dan is the youngest and not-too-bright son of ol' Clem, a rodeo clown. He, his newfound lady, and all the folk who help Puss along the way celebrate with the "best dang bar-be-que they'd ever sunk their teeth into." The stylized watercolor illustrations, executed with selective realism, radiate warmth with a palette dominated by reds, oranges, and yellows.