Cowboys Can Be Kind

By Timothy Knapman

Published by QED publishing

The Little Monster is pretty into cowboys after watching Toy Story and receiving a Woody action figure for Christmas.

We picked up a second hand copy of Cowboys Can Be Kind. It’s an ex-library book and pretty battered but it’s a real favourite at the moment and the message of being kind is perfect for a 4 year old to understand.

Jack is a cowboy. But instead of being brave an true, when he’s out West in the playground he is mean and unfriendly. He races his scooter passed children, takes their toys and makes them cry.

Until one day when Jack gets a taste of his own medicine and learns what it feels like when people are mean to you.

This is such a good book to talk about with children. The rhyming story is nice and simple. The illustrations show lots of different emotions on children’s faces that are clear to understand.

Jack is shown apologising for making people sad and playing nicely at the end.

What I also really like about this book is that it comes with some “Next Steps” prompts at the end. Theres loads of suggestions of ways tou can explore the themes of the story and discuss it it more detail so the message remains memorable.

This is such a current favourite that the Little Monster wants to dress up as Cowboy Jack for World Book Day mufti day tomorrow.

Unfortunately Cowboys Can Be Kind doesn’t seem to be in print in the UK at the moment. But there are lots of copies on Ebay if you fancy reading it with your little cowboys.