Kids at the Rodeo: A Review of Cowboy Up!

When I was growing up in Houston, Texas, one of the high points of my year was going to the rodeo in February. While most of my peers looked forward to the circus, I enjoyed watching the competition among the bull and bronco riders and the calf ropers. One of my early fiction efforts, a story I wrote in third grade, featured a protagonist who was a bronco rider. His name was Scotty. I named him after a boy in my class who had been nice to me.

Reading Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, 2013) by Nancy Bo Flood with photographs by Jan Sonnenmair, took me back to those days. The text and pictures feature both adults and children who take part in the Navajo rodeo. Cowboy Up! is a delightful collage of poems from a child’s perspective, humorous snippets from the announcer, the author’s brief explanations of the various elements of the Navajo rodeo, and expressive photos of children, adults, and animals at the event.

The book begins the night before, with an anxious young competitor who can’t eat or sleep, wondering what the next day will bring. There is the gathering of families at dawn, the introduction of the announcer who happens to be the youngster’s grandfather, the opening ceremony, the young sheep riders who kick off the competition, the various competitions, and the journey home after the event. Sadly, our young narrator does not come out a winner, but Dad explains, “Losing is part of rodeo. / Falling is how you learn… / Next rodeo is coming right up. / Another chance to ride your best.”

Cowboy Up! is an intimate portrayal of a Navajo tradition that is part of a broader North American tradition, with rodeos in Mexico and Canada as well as in the United States. The announcer’s humor and the photos convey the uniquely Navajo aspects of the rodeo, while the poems touch on the universal elements—the joy of a ritual that celebrates family, community, and a way of life. Also universal is the nervousness of the young competitor who hears the words “cowboy up,” and after hours of practice a few crucial seconds will make the difference between victory and defeat.