Chico

Product Description Sandra loves ranch life. Most of all, she loves riding her pony, Chico. But a ride to visit a new calf ends in a terrifying encounter with a rattlesnake. Sandra learns an important lesson about taking care of herself and her horse—and about overcoming her fears. In this story, based on a true-life incident, young Sandra demonstrates the forthright spirit that gave her the courage and confidence to become the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Her adventure with Chico in the desert landscape is breathtakingly rendered by celebrated painter Dan Andreasen. From School Library Journal Grade 1-4–In this engaging picture book, Justice O'Connor shares a story from when she was six years old. She grew up on her family's Arizona ranch, where she helped with kitchen and barn chores. She liked to watch the antelope and was taught to avoid rattlesnakes. Horses were her favorite animal; she learned to ride when she was five. Although her mother instructed her to stay close to home, on one particularly exciting day, she rode Chico a distance from the house to look at a new baby calf. On the way back, they encountered a rattlesnake in their path. The fear on both faces is captured in one of Andreasen's gorgeous paintings. The pictures are done in muted colors and show the wonder of nature in the Southwest, from a fierce thunderstorm to a clearing sky with a rainbow. The author's warm relationship with her parents, her plucky spirit, and the animals on the ranch and in the desert make this a wonderful read. Although O'Connor does not mention anything about her future career as the first woman Supreme Court Justice, this book would be of interest to children studying women's history. –Heather Ver Voort, Washington West Elementary, Olean, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Gr. 1-3. In a story based on memories of her childhood on her family's ranch, O'Connor revisits six-year-old Sandra, who helped with the chores, loved to read, and rode her own small horse, Chico. Riding out to look for a new calf and its mother, Sandra almost falls off Chico when he jumps at the sight of a rattlesnake. After bringing her horse safely home, Sandra goes out with her father in his truck, checking on the calf, chasing a rainbow, and driving back home again. O'Connor's matter-of-fact tone steers away from nostalgia, offering a straightforward presentation of this independent young girl's day. Andreasen's handsome paintings depict the 1930s setting with soft-edged realism and a fine palette of muted colors. One of the few books for young children set in the Southwest, this offers a look at the landscape as well as an accessible tale of O'Connor's childhood. Carolyn Phelan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved About the Author Justice Sandra Day O’Connor lives outside of Washington, D.C. Her adult memoir, Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest, spent twenty-two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was a New York Times Notable Book. Dan Andreasen lives in Orlando, Florida.