Another spectacular picture book biography! How I wish biographies were as good as this back in the 70's! One of the best researched biographies I have ever encountered. Children should find Let 'er Buck engaging and fascinating. The illustrations draw you in immediately. Lush and vibrant. Definitely award worthy.

This is the biography of cowboy George Fletcher. He started riding at a young age. He had Indian friends and found a kinship with them and learnt their language. He participated in a rodeo at sixteen and went against an Indian and a white man. He should have won but the judges didn't declare him the winner as he was black instead they declared the white man the winner and the audience was outraged. He came to be known as the people's champion.A heartwarming story with spectacular illustrations t...

Fascinating biography about a little known historical figure. The oil illustrations nicely portray movement in the story and the panels that look like silent film cards are probably my favorite part. I really love how this ended and the wealth of additional information at the end.

Don’t miss the back matter with Ms. Nelson’s extensive research!

My students and I loved this book. Very-well written. I teach 6th grade.

It's very fitting that I read this book on my late father's birthday. He was a true cowboy and loved horses and rodeo his whole life. He would have loved this book just as much as I did. I like to think that maybe he's met up with George Fletcher and swapped a few tales. I highly recommend this book to everyone. The artwork is beautiful and the story is fast paced and very entertaining.

This was a fascinating picture book biography of a black cowboy and rodeo star from the early 1900s. The oil paintings did a great job of capturing the excitement of watching bronco riders try to stick to their mounts.

I enjoy a good competition story. Nelson does a lovely job setting the stage for this rodeo and delivering the action.

Let 'er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People's Champion is a children's picture book written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Gordon C. James. It introduces his readers to African-American cowboy George Fletcher.Nelson's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Nelson introduces readers to George as a boy learning his craft on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, where his family settled after moving from Kansas. Backmatter includes an extensive author’s

This outstanding picture book has me wishing for a lot more stars to heap on it!I've been waiting impatiently for this book and while it was worth the wait, I wish also that I'd had it sooner and been able to talk about it at conference presentations. Everything comes together in this picture book biography and it is truly a stellar example of the form! Vaunda Micheaux Nelson's writing is wonderfully crafted. It's colloquial style provides an evocative sense of the time and place and she gifts r...

Journey back to the Old West and meet George Fletcher! Did you know...-that George travelled with his family from Kansas on the Oregon Trail? -he learned horse taming and gleaned strong friendships with children from the Umatilla Indian Reservation? -participated in his first rodeo when he was 16? -participated in the 1911 Pendelton Round-up, but due to racist judges, he got second place..? Enjoy this "reads-like-fiction" biography of George's story. Let me add, that George Fletcher's story sho...

Read for Librarian Book GroupI loved this picture book of history of George Fletcher who did not win the 1911 Pendelton Roundup even though he probably would have, had he not been a black man. This book not only has an excellent voice for its subject matter, but also has incredible illustrations, all of which I would be glad to have on the walls of my imaginary high desert cabin.There's also great back matter that is frank about how hard it was to verify information, plus a selected bibliography...

Gorgeous illustrations accompany this picture book biography. There was too much text for my three-year-old, but I enjoyed the story! All of the back matter was fantastic!

Here's an important and thrilling non-fiction title I've been saving (and renewing) since the first week of February. It popped up in more than one blog post during Black History Month, earning multiple starred reviews. As much as I loved it, I waited to share it until that theme had blown away on a gusty March wind. LET 'ER BUCK: GEORGE FLETCHER, THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION is written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and illustrated by Gordon C. James. If ever there were a hidden history story that needed t...

This new children's biography featuring the 1911 Pendleton Round-up will capture hearts and minds with its down home narrative and gorgeous watercolor illustrations. Phrases like "Life at home was no bushel of peaches either" and "like a wet kitten on a warm brick" contribute a strong sense of setting as does the Rodeo and Western Words Glossary included in the book. Finally detailed bios on the main characters of the book include interesting details about the lives of the men in the book. Thank...

This book is excellent in every way. The oil paintings/illustrations also remind me of summers spent at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum as a teenager. <3

This was an exemplary picture book biography. The story is compelling, the tone and style are evocative of Western oral traditions, legends, "tall tales," folk tales, etc., and the illustrations are impressionistic, which adds to the feeling of hearing the story and imagining it in your head. The end materials give us lots more details and research, lending authority to the story by fleshing out the biographical and other historical details. The story itself speaks to systemic racism and whitewa...

George Fletcher was an incredibly talented cowboy and rider, yet he was only given second place at the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up. The author traces George's early life as his family took the Oregon Trail to the Northwest, his friendship with the children on the Umatilla Reservation, his lifelong love of horses, and the story of that historic rodeo. The illustrations capture the spirit of the horses and riders. The sense of movement comes across clearly in images of George "riding a make-believe br...

Another fine picture book biography about a personality from the wild west from Vaunda..."Let 'er buck!" George Fletcher did what was necessary to survive growing up in the early 1900's in Pendleton, OR. As there were few Black children in OR, George was subjected to racism by townspeople, so associated mostly with the nearby Native American tribes who accepted him. He discovered he had a talent for riding horses and a true love for riding wild horses and bucking broncos. He became well-known lo...

George Fletcher moved to Pendleton, Oregon, a place where there weren’t a lot of African-Americans. He made friends with the children from the Umatilla Indian Reservation and learned how to train horses with gentleness. George started riding in competitions at age 16, though he was often shut out of competitions because of the color of his skin or judged unfairly. He got his chance to really show off his skill at the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up, the biggest rodeo in the Northwest. He made the top th...