by Moe Zilla

Created on: August 27, 2010

"...the folks around Sacramento called them the Bronco dogs."

The two scruffy dogs rob banks, stagecoaches, and even the Pony Express. ("It wasn't easy being bad guys. They were always riding and running and running and riding and shooting their guns all the way from Sacramento to Death Valley…") In the background, there's even a cemetery, with a pair of cowboy  boots comically poking up through the sand . But it's a very cheerful and fast-paced book, with lots of colorful illustrations!

Roni Shepherd seems to be using a full set of brightly-colored chalks. On the first page, she uses a yellow swirling watercolor background - representing the California desert - and adds a bright blue sky with white wispy clouds. And she draws those wild dogs in some very funny poses. The dog they call Sixgun Gus sleeps by the cactus, as a smiling snake looks on, while Cannonball Clyde likes to lie back and relax in a bathtub!

She draws some black buzzards that seem to follow the dogs around, and she shows their guns blazing orange and yellow as they rob the First Cowgirl Bank. Then it's back to an orange and yellow desert, as the fear-stricken dogs flee a pack of avenging cowgirls. They're being pursued by actual female cows, who are riding tiny horses while wearing colorful cowboys hats - pink, green, and purple. For some reason, the Bronco dogs cast a purple shadow as they ride past several scraggly green cactus. But at least it's all very colorful.

The cowboy dialect might be a little difficult for young readers, and during the chase, Cannonball Clyde plummets over the Coma-ti-yi-yippi-yippi-yea Peak. And then the story takes an intense turn, as Sixgun Gus tries to lasso his plummeting friend - but instead hauls up his ghost! He sheds a few  tears, but the ghost of Sixgun Gus reminds him that they're friends forever, and then promises to protect their stolen gold from the cowgirls. "That scared the skirts off them!" writes author Caron Lee Cohen - though soon the legend of the ghost has spread as far as Cuyahoga, Ohio.

According to the book's jacket, Cohen is interested in folk tales, folk songs, and "all things western." I personally enjoyed the story, though I'm not sure children will appreciate all the references to old western cliches - and there's also a lot of ghost lore. At the end of the book, the two dog friends are reunited - but only because the cowgirls finally captured Sixgun Gus. "Finally they said they couldn't stand my doggie odor, so I had to take a bath.

 "But I slipped on the soap and drowned in that there tub!"

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