This Old Band

by Tamera Will Wissinger, Matt Loveridge (Illustrator)

What kinds of instruments would you imagine a band of cowboys playing? Surely nothing fancy, but they can still make do with what they have, like jugs, combs, boots, and whatever else they can find. Out on the open range, with no one to tell them to quit their hollerin’, a cowboy band counts from ten to one in a tune children are familiar with. Silly phrases, toe-tapping rhythms, and the occasional twist make these cowpokes a great addition to any story-time or bedtime lineup.

Featuring a ragtag group of cowboys from author Tamera Will Wissinger, and colorful, offbeat illustrations by Matt Loveridge, This Old Band is sure to delight children and adults alike (and teach kids a few things about counting and noises) with a fun take on a popular nursery rhyme.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Storytime, Childrens, Westerns

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Tamera Wissinger writes stories and poetry for children. Her book Gone Fishing: A Novel In Verse, HMH, is an ALSC 2014 Notable Children's Book, a Children's Book Committee 2014 Best Children's Book of the Year, and an International Reading Association 2014 Teachers Choice Book. This Old Band, a counting concept book from Sky Pony Press is a 2015 Read to the Rhythm selection, and a 2014 Southwestern Book of the Year for Kids. Tamera is a graduate of Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. Her second picture book, THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO GOBBLED A SKINK, released in 2016. Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse from HMH Children's is a 2017 New York Public Library Best Books for Kids, NCTE Notable Verse Novel for Excellence in Poetry Book, Nerdy Book Club Best Poetry and Novel in Verse, and a Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee. Tamera is a graduate of Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific picture book! Charming text that you can read aloud and also sing (to the tune of "This Old Man")! And the illustrations are completely adorable. This will definitely be one of those books that gets read over and over.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story set to the tune of "This Old Man" but takes place in the wild west and has new lyrics. It is a lot of fun, and would be great to incorporate with the instruments mentioned in the pages of this book.

[Elisabeth Dahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming illustrations and WONDERFUL text (from the author of the great GONE FISHING). So wish I had a little one to read this to right...now...

[Jamie Swenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Near-perfect read aloud - rhythmic, follows the pattern of THIS OLD MAN - great illustrations. Would be fun to use with pre-k through about second grade kids. Enjoyable!

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great sing-aloud! Best part is there is a lot to look at on the pages as you're being sung to!

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. You sing it to the tune of 'This Old Man'. It feels so long though.

[Venus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally posted on Children's Atheneum

Sung to the tune of 'This Old Man', This Old Band is a fun song/story where cowboys play jugs, combs, boots, and sticks out on the open range. I absolutely loved this toe-tapping story with a great cast of characters. If I was ever going to make a video of myself "reading" a book, this would definitely be one of my first choices. At first, I was a bit turned off by the clearly computer generated illustrations, but found that the characters were so lively that a few pages in I had changed my mind. Perhaps my favorite moment in the story is when one of the characters begins to sing the wrong song (Home Home On the Range) and I think kids would really think this is fun.

A fantastic read-aloud that is sure to have kids tapping their toes and singing along.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the popular nursery rhyme, "This Old Man," this book is the perfect read-aloud (or sing-aloud). It's sure to delight many a young cowpoke at storytime or bedtime with its silly wordplay and a wagonload of rhyming and counting fun. Matt Loveridge's illustrations are equally fresh and lively and will tickle the funny bones of children and adults alike.

[Kit Grindstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun! The sing-along aspect is a winner (to the tune of "This old man", or is it "Knick knack paddy wack"?) which I'd have LOVED as a kid. Great for a read-aloud.

And it's sure to be re-read many times as youngsters try to remember the crazy phrases that repeat in every verse, slightly altered each time.

If I had littlies, I know this would be a bedtime - or classroom - favorite!

[Polly Holyoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this charming picture book. This author is truly a poet, and it shows in her original and clever word choices. The illustrations are colorful, funny and full of kid-appeal. A fresh take on counting books and the rhyming classic, THIS OLD BAND will be a great addition to school libraries and to home collections.

[Barbara Brauner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Old Band, written by Tamera Will Wissinger and illustrated by Matt Loveridge is a delightful new picture book. Kids will love its catchy rhyming verse and charming illustrations. It's clang clang boodle bang fun!

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and clever and full of fun sounds and rhymes that make it a blast to read aloud. It's a perfect read-before-bedtime picture book!

[Liesl Shurtliff]

This is such an adorable picture book! It's a clever and wacky count down book set to the tune of "This Old Man." Love the illustrations.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cowboy band never looked and sounded so awesome. Great for a cowboy or band storytime. Easily sung to the tune: this old man. Much to look at in the illustrations. Yee haw!

[Cathy Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repeat pattern song with ten cowhand musicians playing different Western instruments to different elements in Western nature. As the song progresses, and each musician introduces a new section, the beautiful Illustrations are showing off the gorgeous scenery of the west. You can almost sing this story to the old tune "This Old Man, he played one..." It's a beautiful book with clever musical onomatopoeia sounds. Enjoy.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cute book. It has such a fun rhyming scheme, fun characters, fun “instruments”, and it counts down (which is perfect if you are counting down to a bed time or until you have to do something). It such a fun version of Knick knack paddy wack. It’s just perfectly silly.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bright pictures and rhymes

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

To the tune of "This Old Man" the band plays a song, counting down players from number ten to number one and listing what instrument they play.

[Sushie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The entire band has the same skin tone, except the pale pudgy old man and the tan guitarist who is leering and toothy for the entire book as a weird Mexican stereotype. Cannot recommend.

[Amber Nikirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute book written to the tune of “This Old Man”. Picked it up at a library sale and have already read it multiple times with my children!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. I sang it to myself to the tune of "This Old Man." Nowhere in the book will you find a reference to this song, but I thought the poem/story was clearly a derivative of it.

The illustrations were really top-notch, too: very vibrant. I liked how the ten performers were introduced one by one, and those we met kept playing while those we had yet to meet were just waiting in the background.

All in all, I really liked this story. Reading it made for a nice break between longer books. :-)

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alternate version of "This Old Man" in an old West style setting. Each character "number" has a different instrument that makes different fun noises.

This would be a perfect story to sing and share with real-life versions of the instruments for children to play.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of these versus were on the struggle bus. Stage coach. Horse. Whatever is out in the Wild West. Although I appreciated the onomatopoeias and the Western vocabulary, the illustrations were super cartoony and rubbed me the wrong way. Yippee ki yay.

[Meghan Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the rhythm and sounds in this book. I would love to watch someone with musical talent perform this book some time. It would work so well in a read aloud or storytime. Many different musical instruments can be used to perform this story.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and clever use of words, sung to the tune of This Old Man.

[pati · Rating 3 out of 5]

This old band plays all day long! Creative, musical rhymes, great read-aloud!

[Melissa]

Possible ST themes: cowboys, music
Great for 2015 "Read to the Rhythm" theme

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. But, why does it count down instead of up? That was confusing.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute remake of "This old man." Could be a tad long for storytime, but it's good enough for a try.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of fun as part of a musical storytime with someone accompanying on an instrument (or 3 or 4 or more)