Genre 2 Book Review of BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ketteman, Helen. 1997. BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE: A FRACTURED TEXAS TALE. Ill. By James Warhola. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0590255061

PLOT SUMMARY
This is a retelling of the Cinderella story Texas style. The main character is a boy named Bubba and he is being raised on a ranch by his mean stepdad. He also has two unkind stepbrothers. Bubba is forced to work day and night on the ranch, but he never complains about the work because he loves being a cowboy. The ball in this story is given by a rich young woman looking for a “feller”. Bubba helps the family get ready for the ball, and gets all the chores on the ranch done, only to find out there isn’t any time left for him to get himself ready for the ball. Bubba is left behind. Luckily Bubba has a fairy godcow. She transforms him into a clean and handsome young cowboy. Bubba is then able to go to the ball and dance with the beautiful Lurleen. Time ran out while he was at the ball and when the clock struck midnight he turned back into plain old Bubba. He ran away as fast as he could, and left one boot behind. Lurleen searched all the ranches looking for her cowboy that matched the boot. At the very end she found Bubba was a perfect fit for her boot and her heart.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This outrageously funny story is the perfect retelling of the Cinderella story. The Texas spin on the Cinderella story is pure magic. The text is written in such a way that even if one is reading this book silently they can still here the Texas “twang”. Having the main character named Bubba is brilliant. The clever way that the story is set on a ranch works perfectly for this retelling. The author gets in all the typical stereotypes of Texans. With text that sounds like what you would expect to here in the Texas countryside. The story is written with a Texas drawl built into it with phrases such as “Milton and Dwayne spent all day getting gussied up in their finest duds. Bubba about ran hisself ragged waiting on them.” Having a male Cinderella is a unique way to retell the story. The good verses evil them is still present as in typical fairy and folktales with the good characters of Lurleen and Bubba living happily ever after.

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and capture the fun spirit of the book. The bright and colorful pictures compliment the story perfectly. The over exaggerated character’s features really emphasize the emotions that are happening in the story. One can clearly see in the pictures the different emotions: sadness of not going to the ball, jealousy of the stepbrothers at the ball, and the anger of the boys at the end. The scenery is gorgeous throughout the story. The attention to details is also apparent. Ms. Lurleen’s house is Texas from top to bottom with a Texas shaped clock and a cactus hat rack. The illustrations definitely add to the dramatic quality of this story.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
From Kirkus Reviews”A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions.”

Children's Literature Review: ‘The premise isn't original, but the execution and artwork certainly are.”

CONNECTIONS
Have the class act out this story as a play
Compare this story to the original Cinderella story
Read a varied selection of Cinderella versions