Calico the Wonder Horse, or the Saga of Stewy Stinker

by Virginia Lee Burton

In comic-strip format, this action-packed western drama is complete with cattle rustling and kidnapping, a stampede, a holdup, and a thrilling chase. From start to bang-up finish, Calico the Wonder Horse outruns and outsmarts the double-dyed villains -- and, of course, saves the day!

Genres: Picture Books, Christmas, Childrens, Holiday, Westerns, Horses, Animals

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Virginia Lee Burton was an American illustrator and children's book author. Burton produced seven self-illustrated children's books. She married Boston Museum school sculptor, George Demetrios, with whom she had two sons and lived in Folly Cove, Gloucester. She died at 59.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, Howdy! This is quite a tale! Calico is indeed a Wonder Horse and she saves Christmas and more for the people of Cactus County. Filled with Virginia Lee Burton's intricate illustrations, this story of Calico and her cowboy Hank is one thrill after another. Calico is not only the smartest horse in the county, but might have a few bad guys beat in the brains department, too. Stewy Stinker, Snake Eye Pyezon, Buzzard Bates, and little Skunk Skeeter are going to find out that cheaters never prosper. Might as well join the good guys. A rip roaring read for Christmas.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I remember from childhood. Kind of a pre-Grinch story that does not get the same readership it use to get. Will be on my 'Christmas list' from now on. If I had children I would make sure that there were holiday books that I could read to them as long as possible. Then one day they would read the same books to their children. Kind of a cool concept!

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all loved this book as kids. Mother says one of my brothers had the entire book memorized before he learned to read.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not the prettiest horse in Cactus County, Calico was the smartest, fastest equine around, with a nose better than any bloodhound's. When Stewy Stinker and his gang of bad men - Butch Bones, Snake Eye Pyezon, Buzzard Bates, Little Skunk Skeeter - begin making trouble for the good people of the county, Calico finds a way to bring the outlaw in. But when her cowboy Hank decides to use the reward to buy the local children Christmas toys, and Stewy escapes from his temporary jail intent on holding up the stagecoach, Calico must once again step in to save the day. Not only does this Wonder Horse liberate all the rustled cattle, she reforms the bad men and saves Christmas for all!

Originally published in 1941, this western Christmas tale from Virginia Lee Burton, the author of such celebrated children's classics as Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and the Caldecott Medal-winning The Little House , offers an entertaining and ultimately heartwarming holiday tale, one in which even the bad guys get to enjoy the festivities in the end. Although unlikely, the happy ending felt quite appropriate for a Christmas tale, emphasizing the importance of forgiveness at this time of year, and the power of kindness in setting things right. The artwork in Calico the Wonder Horse is just lovely, with multiple panels on each page, set up rather like a comic book. Recommended to anyone looking for Christmas tales with a western flavor, as well as to fans of Virginia Lee Burton's work.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

i absolutely love children's books from this era. remember mike and mary anne? same author and i like this one even better. a wild west adventure in graphic novel form but way ahead of its time- 1941. marvelous!

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

there is a short essay at the end suggesting this is an early graphic novel, i don't really buy that - lynd ward had already done several wordless novels by the time burton did this. But it is a great story w/some fun writing.

[Mandy E · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book! Burton panelled her illustrations like a comic book (though the style reminds me of a film storyboard in many ways) and set the narration beneath each frame. The illustrations are all beautifully composed black and white images that replicate the fine stark lines of woodblock prints. Her talent for conveying motion and tension in her scenes is astonishing, and the facial expressions she gives the characters in this book are truly glorious (see the close-up of a sad and repentant Stewy Stinker towards the end for an especially delightful example). I loved saying aloud the folky old-west-tall-tale hyperboles that Burton makes liberal use of in this story, and I love the way she subverts no complicates the classic western saga by first, making the horse the true hero and second, by imagining a redemptive moment for the antagonists in which they renounce their hurtful behaviors and rejoin society. This is definitely going on our wish list.

[Altivo Overo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an illustrated children's story presented frame by frame in the manner of a comic. The lavishly detailed pictures are entirely black and white, done in the style of woodcuts (though I don't think that technique was actually involved.) The visual result is very effective though, and young readers will enjoy close examination of the details in the images.

Calico is indeed a wonder horse, with the intelligence of a human (or better) and the scent tracking ability of a bloodhound. She can talk to her rider (who raised her from a foundling foal) and saves the day repeatedly in the process of tracking down and reforming a band of cattle rustlers. A stampede, a flood, and a Christmas party for the town's children form the plot into a classic happy ending western tale. This little story book could easily be adapted into a full length Hollywood western, and I think it unfortunate that it never was done.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calico the Wonder Horse quite possibly is one of the first graphic books for children. The art work of Virginia Lee Burton is as important to the telling of the story as the story itself. The story was written for her 9 year old son who loved comics and westerns, thus Calico was set in the wild outlaw West . Calico is the smartest, fastest cow pony ever known in those parts. Stewy Stinker is the gang leader of the Bad Men who makes life annoying for the happy people living in cactus County. The artwork and the writing come together for an old fashioned bit of non tech enjoyment.

[Jen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child, and took it out of the library over and over again. We lived in an isolated town in the Northwest Territories in the early 1970's. Thank goodness we had a wonderful librarian who stocked the shelves with inspiring books for all ages.

[Lea Beall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. The art work is fantastic. It's done in an engraving, silhouette style. THe pages are different colors.
The story is great. The drawings are full of action. A western children's adventure book. It's a darling story. Calico is wonderful, a hero of a horse! The art style is different than Virginia Burton's other books. I scarcely remember reading anything so delightful in a children's book. The story line and plot remind me of a TinTin book in its action, a comic book in its heroism, and a Maverick episode mixed with Walt Disney in its theme. I loved it.

[Roben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Calico is one amazing horse! And this story tells how she captures Stewy Stinker and his cattle rustling gang, rescues the cattle, AND saves Christmas! Now that's one smart horse! I have to admit that I will probably give anything that VIrginia Lee Burton wrote five stars -- I love her work. And this book is no exception. It is delightful. It's long for a picture book, though. So be sure to give yourself plenty of time for this one. Wrap it up and put it under the tree to open up on Christmas Eve and share with your family! It might become a holiday tradition.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging book with a sweet ending. We love Virginia Lee Burton books!..krb 2/7/17

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1941 and it is cute in an old-fashioned way. It was a little long for my five year old to sit through, though we managed it.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry not to have known this years ago. A very worthy addition to Burton's canon.

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a horse crazy equestrian I just loved this book! It is a short little western that is a bit similar in many ways to a Bugs Bunny cartoon: over the top action and danger with lots of excitement...but yet somehow serious injury is avoided. There are cows to rustle, dangerous cliffs, storms, a raging river, treasure to steal and a gang of bad guys! But who is going to be the hero?? The cowboy?? No... Its his HORSE!

This fun story was written in 1941. The author also made the illustrations too. And the pictures are certainly fun to look at. And the horses look like horses.

I think the most amazing thing in here is a tiny detail on page 14. This is where the cowboy shows Calico a Wanted Poster for Stewy Stinker. And Calico actually recognizes Stewy! Now many non-equestrians may not realize that horses actually CAN recognize people in photos! But they can. They also can know if the person is happy or sad or angry. And they will remember that. They can also recognize people in photos they never met before and when they do meet them they will act appropriate based on their expression in the photo they had seen (be cautious around someone who had looked angry and look at the person with their left eye). So it is amazing that this is actually used in the story as I am sure back in 1941 they had no idea horses could do this...or did they?

A great, quick but entertaining read. I am glad I have this one in my collection of horse books!

This book is in black and white. The back includes a nice little story of how the author thought up the idea that became this book & I found that interesting.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea this was a Christmas book. I mean it's set at Christmas time, but really, it's a Cowboy book. And the horse, Calico is the hero of the story with all the good ideas.

This is about a peaceful little town that raises cattle and some bad guys who live around the way. Of course they are bound to clash and so they do. The bad guys are stealing cattle.

I'm not a western fan, this just isn't my genre. I'm not a fan of deserts or anything that was in this book really. It had some good characters. The only real characters were the bad guys and the horse. Hank the owner barely has a personality here.

The artwork is just black and white pictures. I assume since this was during the war, that's all they could do back then. 1941, not the best year for publishing, I assume. The artwork is okay, it does convey the desert.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bookshelf reshuffle surfaced my ancient but beloved paperback edition of Calico. If you have never read about the wonder horse, run to your library or local bookstore. This is a sweet, funny tale that both sends up the tropes of Western melodrama (the villain twirls his mustaches) and delivers a satisfactorily reformation of Stewy Stinker, a man so mean that he'd hold up Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. What truly sells the story is Virginia Lee Burton's gorgeous illustrations, boldly done but full of minute details. I remember spending hours as a kid reading the story and then pouring over the pictures. The book reshelving project paused for a satisfactory tea and reading break before Calico was carefully returned to a place of honor.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an adventure! I read a lot of picture books because I have kids, but it’s funny to see the difference from these older books and books written for them today. This book was adventurous and thrilling for an adult, and I like that. Kids can handle bigger words and complex stories, especially if they read a lot. So this will be great for kids that might find the average picture book kind of boring. I almost want to compare this to the same sort of adventure you would find with “Treasure Island” or from Alexandre Dumas. Regardless, this was fun.

[Gay Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect cowboy or cowgirl elementary school title filled with black and white drawings, that spur the imagination of readers, done in a comic book strip fashion with about one sentence with each drawing. Far and away better than today's graphic novels. Here, the bad men promise to be good in the end, even Stewy Stinker.

[Vincent Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book to my boys. An instant classic in our house. Favorite quote: "It rained so hard and so fast that if you opened your mouth you'd be in danger of drowning."

Virginia Lee Burton has made her way as a favorite in our house. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Engine is probably one of our favorites. Calico is definitely competing for 2nd place.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t mind that there wasn’t any color, it is a bit long for a bedtime story; but my daughter loved hearing about Stewy Stinker and the alliteration in the names made the characters easier to remember. Another classic by Virginia Lee Burton and now I understand why it’s considered a Christmas classic.

[Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here for the illustrations and the bad guys - Stewy Stinker, Butch Bones, Snake Eye Pyezon ("who was so crooked, they said, that if he swallowed nails he'd spit out corkscrews."), Buzzard Bates and Little Skunk Skeeter.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic art in an homage to the old western serials. A bit long for the littlest, perhaps, but the payoff is worth it. I do wonder why it didn't get a Caldecott, back in the day.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horse is the hero over and over bring Stewy Sticker to justice.

[JSL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black and white cartoon drawings with a western shoot-em-up story.

[Sushie · Rating 3 out of 5]

age: 2nd grade+
length: long
plot: robust- I could easily see someone making this into an animated movie

[Brianna Osborne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only loosely tied to Christmas. I thought the boys would be bored because it was so long, but they sat through the whole thing! Great illustrations and text.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really funny. Smiled and laughed the whole time. :-)

[Joy Symonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can feel the tension and excitement mounting as the book goes along. Both my kids were on the edge of their seats! A great story with lively characters and plenty of action!