BUBBA THE COWBOY PRINCE

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

PLOT SUMMARY:
Bubba lives on a ranch with his cruel stepbrothers, Dwayne and Milton, and evil stepdaddy. When Miz Lurleeen, the prettiest girl in the county, decides to have a ball to find herself a companion, the stepbrothers hurry off to the ball telling Bubba he’s too smelly. However, the fairy godcow appears and magically changes Bubba into a handsome cowboy with dazzling clothes. Bubba goes to the ball and enchants Miz Lurleen, but at midnight, his clothes turn back to rags, and embarrassed, he runs off. Miz Lurleen is left with one of his boots, and she decides to try it on all the men in the county to find her guy. The boot fits Bubba perfectly, and the happy couple rides off into the sunset together.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The characters in Ketteman’s tale directly represent archetypes of good and evil. While they are very flat and not well developed, the audience still knows to root for Bubba against the wicked step brothers and step daddy. The story reads with a quick pace keeping up the interest of young readers. In addition, the Texas diction is fabulous. Ketteman’s word choice and spelling such as “purtiest” gives the language a thick Southern draw.

The illustrations are crucial to the development of the setting. They showcase authentic details to Texas culture such as big hair, belt buckles, and fiddles. By providing a rich and dramatized Texas backdrop, the illustrations contrast this tale from the other Cinderella stories. In addition, the great expressions Warhola paints on the character’s faces help emphasize the emotion.

I think kids will find the silly nature of this book most appealing. Ketteman’s language lends itself great to storytelling. However, young children might find the language to be challenging for them to read independently as they won’t be familiar with the some of the words.

AWARDS WON AND REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
KIRKUS: “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.”

CONNECTIONS:
* Compare and contrast this story to the original Cinderella (Disney). Make a bubble chart to assist as a visualize aid for the students while they discuss.
* Share other Cinderella variants
Martin, R. THE ROUGH-FACE GIRL. ISBN 0698116267
Climo, S. THE EGYPTIAN CINDERELLA ISBN 0064432793
*Have students create their own variant using inspiration from their local community. For example, the protagonist could be a new boy who came to school and the antagonists could be two bullies and an evil teacher.