Synopses & Reviews
At first, settlers and travelers in the American West wore whatever hats they had worn back home: knit caps, wool derbies, straw sombreros. Everyone wore some kind of hat, though, because of the Western weather. At last, one hat came along that was especially suited to frontier life. This is the story of that amazing hat -- the Boss of the Plains -- and the young man, John Stetson, an Easterner and hat maker who followed his dream to go West and ended up creating the most popular hat west of the Mississippi -- a hat still worn by countless Westerners and others today. This unusual picture book biography is inventively illustrated in cut paper and paint by Holly Meade, whose picture book Hush! was a 1997 Caldecott Honor Book.
Review
An entertaining tale, rich with details of the Old West, this top-notch biography details the rise of a young man named Stetson. (Working Mother, December/January 1999)
Review
Carlson tells a story of inventiveness and entrepreneurship that springs straight out of the spirit of the West, and Meade's blocky, cartoon-like images add color and humor. (Providence Journal, July 26, 1998)
Review
Young cowhands with a hankering for the Wild West will tip their hats to this tale. (Publishers Weekly, May 4, 1998)
Review
Laurie Carlson's fully documented story nicely captures the excitement and adventure of the rough-and-tumble period, and Caldecott Honor artist Holly Meade's generous suite of illustrations give it life and form. (Literary Features Syndicate (Orlando Sentinel), July 1998)
Review
Rough-and-ready illustrations and enticing prose set the scene for John Stetson to win readers as easily as he won the West. ( Los Angeles Times Book Review, July 19, 1998 )
Review
The story is lively and informative, especially on process: together, Carlson and the illustrator, Holly Meade, clearly explain felting and hat making. The exuberant illustrations, in slightly muted colors, show 19th-century people going about their daily lives, earning their daily bread. Thoughtful book design provides an interestingly varied layout, background colors and endpapers that evoke the period, and an appropriately old-fashioned type face. (New York Times Book Review, May 17, 1998)
Review
The folksiness of Holly Meade's cut-paper collages provide just the right rough-and-tumble feel for this Great Plains saga of American ingenuity. ( School Library Journal, August 1998)
Review
Hats off to Carlson and Caldecott Honor artist Meade for their lively and informative biography of John Stetson, definitive hat maker of the American west. Here's a biography that's also a darn good story about Western expansion and frontier life, and about one man's pursuit of his dreams. (Family Life, May 1998)
Review
Laurie Carlson's storytelling prose sets the scene and tells the tale concisely and enticingly . . Holly Meade's mixed-media illustrations have an appropriately rough-and-ready feel, with torn-paper used to great effect, creating Great Plains-sized skies and brightly burning campfires. (Horn Book, May/June 1998 -- Starred Review)
Review
Carlson weaves a lively and information- packed narrative that will have wide appeal. . . Carlson demonstrates a storyteller's expertise in pacing, plot-building, and dialogue. The cut-paper illustrations convey the activity and bustle of the boom-town West. . . that this entertaining picture book is indeed a well-researched work of nonfiction, appropriate for storytelling or reports. (School Library Journal, April 1998)
About the Author
Laurie Carlson has lived in the West her entire life; she has taught preschool, primary grades, and children's art classes. She is the author of More Than Moccasins, which was a Golden Spur finalist in 1995. She received her first cowboy hat when she was two years old, along with a gorgeous pair of red-and-white boots. She lives in Cheney, Washington. Holly Meade has illustrated a number of popular picture books, including Minfong Ho's Hush!, a Caldecott Honor Book, and Libba Morre Gray's Small Green Snake. She lives in Amherst, New Hampshire.