What do you think?
Rate this book
Tales from Deckawoo Drive #1
Leroy Ninker Saddles Up
“DiCamillo effortlessly slips back into the comfortable rhythms of Mercy’s world, infusing every chapter with subdued wit, warmth, and heart.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Yippie-i-oh! Saddle up for the first in a spin-off series starring favorite characters from Kate DiCamillo’s New York Times best-selling Mercy Watson books. Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn't have is a horse—until he meets Maybelline, that is, and then it's love at first sight. Join Leroy, Maybelline, and everyone's favorite porcine wonder, Mercy, for some hilarious and heartfelt horsing around on Deckawoo Drive.
Yippie-i-oh! Saddle up for the first in a spin-off series starring favorite characters from Kate DiCamillo’s New York Times best-selling Mercy Watson books. Leroy Ninker has a hat, a lasso, and boots. What he doesn't have is a horse—until he meets Maybelline, that is, and then it's love at first sight. Join Leroy, Maybelline, and everyone's favorite porcine wonder, Mercy, for some hilarious and heartfelt horsing around on Deckawoo Drive.
96 pages, Library Binding
First published August 26, 2014
539 people are currently reading
1698 people want to read
About the author
Kate DiCamillo
161 books11.1k followersKate DiCamillo, the newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Kate DiCamillo's own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie - her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. "After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series - Mercy Watson, which stars a "porcine wonder" with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship - as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format - a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 489 reviews
May 23, 2018
Leroy Ninker wants to be a cowboy. It’s his life dream. A cowboy needs a horse. So he finds an add in the paper for a good horse. Upon seeing the horse, he bonds with it and ultimately taking the quirky little horse home. Events happen and the horse is frightened away, but it’s ok in the end as they reunite again over toast.
Leroy is a character from the Mercy Watson books. This book was longer than the Mercy books, so it’s more of a stop into reading on your own. The book was not quite as fun as Mercy Watson, but there is still a lot of charm and fun in these pages.
Great for cowboy lovers out there.
Leroy is a character from the Mercy Watson books. This book was longer than the Mercy books, so it’s more of a stop into reading on your own. The book was not quite as fun as Mercy Watson, but there is still a lot of charm and fun in these pages.
Great for cowboy lovers out there.
June 7, 2020
Former thief Leroy Ninker dreams of being a cowboy, which is why he often says, “Yippie-i-oh”. He has a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a lasso.
Leroy and Maybelline’s story was a really quick read for me and I found it quite sweet. I didn’t have to work at all to get into this book but it felt unfinished to me. Did Leroy ever find a way to get Maybelline inside his home? I also wondered if Maybelline overcame her fear of being alone once she learned to trust that Leroy would always return to her.
This is the first book in a spinoff of the Mercy Watson series. Maybelline and Leroy accidentally wind up visiting Deckawoo Drive, home of the Watsons.
I really enjoyed Chris Van Dusen’s illustrations. Both humans and animals are very expressive and the details line up well with the narrative.
I’ll be looking out for this spaghetti eating horse and her cowboy as the series progresses.
“That is the life for me. A cowboy is who I was meant to be.”What Leroy doesn’t have is a horse, and every cowboy needs a horse. Leroy decides it’s time he found himself a strong, fast horse. Instead, he finds Maybelline. Maybelline runs on compliments and loves spaghetti. She doesn’t like being alone.
Leroy and Maybelline’s story was a really quick read for me and I found it quite sweet. I didn’t have to work at all to get into this book but it felt unfinished to me. Did Leroy ever find a way to get Maybelline inside his home? I also wondered if Maybelline overcame her fear of being alone once she learned to trust that Leroy would always return to her.
This is the first book in a spinoff of the Mercy Watson series. Maybelline and Leroy accidentally wind up visiting Deckawoo Drive, home of the Watsons.
I really enjoyed Chris Van Dusen’s illustrations. Both humans and animals are very expressive and the details line up well with the narrative.
I’ll be looking out for this spaghetti eating horse and her cowboy as the series progresses.
November 8, 2014
This is why Kate DiCamillo wins awards. This is why she is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.
She knows kids. She knows how to make them fall in love with books. She knows how to push their thinking and give them new vocabulary.
This book is a winner.
She knows kids. She knows how to make them fall in love with books. She knows how to push their thinking and give them new vocabulary.
This book is a winner.
April 30, 2020
What a hoot! I laughed several times at this story.
December 23, 2018
I expected a cute story when I started this, and I wasn't disappointed. Leroy Ninker Saddles Up tells the story of a man and his horse, with plenty of beautiful words (which is appropriate, since Maybelline the horse loves beautiful words so much). After Leroy brings Maybelline back to his apartment, he realizes she won't fit through the front door. Later that night, there's a storm, and as Leroy goes to fetch an umbrella, Maybelline gets scared and runs away. Then it's up to Leroy to find his horse. The search leads him to Deckawoo Drive, where Mercy and the Watsons make cameos.
I like the story for the most part, except for one small thing: the problem of Maybelline not fitting through Leroy's front door is never addressed. Yes, Mrs. Watson makes a comment about how there's always a way to make things fit, but that's about much resolution as that plot point gets, and it leaves me wondering how the same thing (Maybelline freaking out and running away after being left outside) won't happen again... repeatedly.
Other than that, though, the writing is strong and intelligent, just the way I've come to expect from DiCamillo. The illustrations are nice, too, although I'm a bit disappointed they aren't in full colour like the ones in the Mercy Watson books. Overall, this is a strong chapter book for young readers (and it's not so juvenile that older readers can't enjoy it, too).
Quotable moment:
I like the story for the most part, except for one small thing: the problem of Maybelline not fitting through Leroy's front door is never addressed. Yes, Mrs. Watson makes a comment about how there's always a way to make things fit, but that's about much resolution as that plot point gets, and it leaves me wondering how the same thing (Maybelline freaking out and running away after being left outside) won't happen again... repeatedly.
Other than that, though, the writing is strong and intelligent, just the way I've come to expect from DiCamillo. The illustrations are nice, too, although I'm a bit disappointed they aren't in full colour like the ones in the Mercy Watson books. Overall, this is a strong chapter book for young readers (and it's not so juvenile that older readers can't enjoy it, too).
Quotable moment:
"You are the most splendiferous horse in all of creation," he said.
Maybelline whinnied long and loud. She nodded in agreement.
She truly was an excellent horse.
Leroy didn't think he would ever be done admiring her.
December 15, 2014
Perhaps this book is meant as a stepping stone to bigger chapter books, which makes it okay. Leroy Ninker is apparently a spin-off from the popular Mercy Watson pig stories. He really wants a horse and has to learn that horses are a lot of work. Maybelline (the horse) is too big to fit in Leroy's apartment and will eat him out of house and home. She also won't behave until she's been complimented. Fortunately, compliments are something that Leroy can handle.
But I don't know where he's going to keep that horse.
It's almost as though this is a part of a larger novel that DiCamillo has broken up and is publishing one chapter at a time. Leroy wants a horse, gets a horse, loses his horse, then finds her. I don't get the sense that he has learned anything or that there has been a climax and denouement.
A kid would probably enjoy this because a kid doesn't have the sense of practicality I do. Horses need fields and a barn, a huge source of water, and lots to eat. They can't just stand around outside an apartment door all night, and owners can't sleep out there on concrete with them. And the other tenants would complain that a horse was taking up their parking place.
I'm just told old to enjoy myself, aren't I?
But I don't know where he's going to keep that horse.
It's almost as though this is a part of a larger novel that DiCamillo has broken up and is publishing one chapter at a time. Leroy wants a horse, gets a horse, loses his horse, then finds her. I don't get the sense that he has learned anything or that there has been a climax and denouement.
A kid would probably enjoy this because a kid doesn't have the sense of practicality I do. Horses need fields and a barn, a huge source of water, and lots to eat. They can't just stand around outside an apartment door all night, and owners can't sleep out there on concrete with them. And the other tenants would complain that a horse was taking up their parking place.
I'm just told old to enjoy myself, aren't I?
January 16, 2019
این کتاب خیلی بهم چسبید
بچگانه بود
اما جذاب بود
سبک روایتش هم بیشتر شبیه داستانهای قدیمی بود تا این روایتهای جدید آبکی
تصویرگری جذابی هم داشت
عالی
بچگانه بود
اما جذاب بود
سبک روایتش هم بیشتر شبیه داستانهای قدیمی بود تا این روایتهای جدید آبکی
تصویرگری جذابی هم داشت
عالی
July 24, 2019
Leroy Ninker, the reformed thief and would-be cowboy who first appeared in
Mercy Watson Fights Crime
, the third in Kate DiCamillo's early chapter-book series about an unusual pig, returns in his own adventure here, launching a new series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive. Still hoping to be a cowboy, Leroy sets out to obtain a horse, eventually finding himself the proud owner of an older equine named Maybelline. But when he forgets that his new companion doesn't like to be left alone - especially in thunder storms! - it looks like he will lose her. Or will he...?
This being a Kate DiCamillo story, there's never much doubt that matters will end well, but fans of Mercy Watson will still enjoy watching Leroy find his happy ending. The reading level here is a step up from the Mercy Watson books, making it the perfect next stage for children who have read those adventures and are looking for more. Just as with the earlier series, the artwork here is provided by Chris Van Dusen, although sadly it is in black and white. I thought this was rather a shame, as part of the appeal of Mercy Watson is the vibrantly colorful vintage-feeling artwork. Still, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up is well worth a look for Mercy Watson fans, or for any child looking for entertaining chapter-books.
This being a Kate DiCamillo story, there's never much doubt that matters will end well, but fans of Mercy Watson will still enjoy watching Leroy find his happy ending. The reading level here is a step up from the Mercy Watson books, making it the perfect next stage for children who have read those adventures and are looking for more. Just as with the earlier series, the artwork here is provided by Chris Van Dusen, although sadly it is in black and white. I thought this was rather a shame, as part of the appeal of Mercy Watson is the vibrantly colorful vintage-feeling artwork. Still, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up is well worth a look for Mercy Watson fans, or for any child looking for entertaining chapter-books.
January 2, 2025
I am going to piggy back this review with my 2024 reflective.
I read 32 books in 2024 which is the most ever since college. It started in March with Tress of the Emerald Sea while on vacation and was supported by many audio books and a poor bedtime routine with the girls which involved hours of snuggles every night.
Here is my ranked list:
(5-stars)
01. The Emperor's Soul
02. Tress of the Emerald Sea
03. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
04. Shadows of Self
05. Murder on the Orient Express
06. The Sunlit Man
07. The Prodigal Prophet
07. Death on the Nile
08. Sixth of the Dusk
(4-stars)
09. Rhythm of War
10. Red Rising
11. Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
12. The Bands of Mourning
13. The Alloy of Law
14. The Lost Metal
15. Secret History
16. The Rithmatist
17. Murder at the Vicarage
18. 936 Pennies
19. Out of the Silent Planet
20.Golden Son
21. The Alchemist
(3-stars)
22. Elantris
23. Perelandra
24. Dark Matter
25. Bartleby the Scrivener
(2-stars)
26. The Eleventh Metal
27. Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
28. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
29. The Hope of Elantris
30. Do Hard Things
(1-star)
31. Murtagh (DNF)
32. White: The Great Pursuit (The Circle, #3)
I read 32 books in 2024 which is the most ever since college. It started in March with Tress of the Emerald Sea while on vacation and was supported by many audio books and a poor bedtime routine with the girls which involved hours of snuggles every night.
Here is my ranked list:
(5-stars)
01. The Emperor's Soul
02. Tress of the Emerald Sea
03. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
04. Shadows of Self
05. Murder on the Orient Express
06. The Sunlit Man
07. The Prodigal Prophet
07. Death on the Nile
08. Sixth of the Dusk
(4-stars)
09. Rhythm of War
10. Red Rising
11. Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
12. The Bands of Mourning
13. The Alloy of Law
14. The Lost Metal
15. Secret History
16. The Rithmatist
17. Murder at the Vicarage
18. 936 Pennies
19. Out of the Silent Planet
20.Golden Son
21. The Alchemist
(3-stars)
22. Elantris
23. Perelandra
24. Dark Matter
25. Bartleby the Scrivener
(2-stars)
26. The Eleventh Metal
27. Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
28. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
29. The Hope of Elantris
30. Do Hard Things
(1-star)
31. Murtagh (DNF)
32. White: The Great Pursuit (The Circle, #3)
November 24, 2021
This was a cute little story. Leroy wants to be a cowboy and he gets a horse. I love the use of language in this book, and how opening one's heart for something can let other things as well.
August 19, 2025
Slow start but my 4 year old who is into cowboys was hooked about halfway through! Parents— do you include your readalouds in your book count? Haha
Read
July 25, 2016This book is absolutely adorable. As with all of Kate DiCamillio's work I'm a fan.
I'm currently using this book for my ESL students to practice pronunciation and basic comprehension and they absolutely love it! It is such a cute story for any age.
I'm currently using this book for my ESL students to practice pronunciation and basic comprehension and they absolutely love it! It is such a cute story for any age.
December 21, 2025
Another strong addition to the beginning chapter book selection. Rich vocabulary. Mercy Watson gets a mention.
August 29, 2015
Delightfully charming. Would make a great read first of the year aloud in a first - third grade classroom.
September 4, 2021
Another bedtime read for a kindergartner, another mother’s stolen heart. Kate DiCamillo never gets old for me, no matter who and how she is writing.
April 15, 2020
Yippie-i-oh! Horse of my heart! I have missed you so.
I love the cover, don't you? OH so cute and colorful. I did want to point out or at least take notice, Leroy use to be a thief? Why would that bit of information be necessary for a children's book? That said, I liked Leroy, the little scamp!
Mrs. Watson, Maybelline, and Stella also star in this little book. Stella is a little girl and Mrs. Watson and Maybelline are more MATURE, one being a lady and one being a lady horse who requires a great deal of attention (sounds spoiled to me) but she loves Leroy. Happy horse, happy ... horse? It really didn't go anywhere, but it was cute... It is sort of the get more with honey thing.
This book is the right length to read out loud to kids, so a great choice for classes or night time reading. It has a cast of characters so it lends itself to lots of voices and attitudes. I thought it was very cute and it made me smile.
Happy Reading!
I love the cover, don't you? OH so cute and colorful. I did want to point out or at least take notice, Leroy use to be a thief? Why would that bit of information be necessary for a children's book? That said, I liked Leroy, the little scamp!
Mrs. Watson, Maybelline, and Stella also star in this little book. Stella is a little girl and Mrs. Watson and Maybelline are more MATURE, one being a lady and one being a lady horse who requires a great deal of attention (sounds spoiled to me) but she loves Leroy. Happy horse, happy ... horse? It really didn't go anywhere, but it was cute... It is sort of the get more with honey thing.
This book is the right length to read out loud to kids, so a great choice for classes or night time reading. It has a cast of characters so it lends itself to lots of voices and attitudes. I thought it was very cute and it made me smile.
Happy Reading!
September 15, 2024
"If there's anything worse than being a cowboy without a horse it is being a cowboy who had a horse and then lost her." RIP my heart.
This book walked a fine line of being silly enough to entertain me as a parent while being sweet and fun enough to make my 4 yr old want back to back readings of it.
This book walked a fine line of being silly enough to entertain me as a parent while being sweet and fun enough to make my 4 yr old want back to back readings of it.
January 20, 2023
Cute story about a wannabe cowboy and his horse. My kiddos enjoyed it as a read aloud. The illustrations were great
March 25, 2021
“What you have to do here is take fate in your hands and wrestle it to the ground.”
Leroy wants to be a cowboy like the ones he sees in the movies. He has a hat, boots and a lasso. Beatrice informs him that to be a cowboy, he needs a horse. So Leroy goes in search of a horse to make himself complete. He doesn't realize just how accurate that is. When he finds Maybelline, he “... noticed that the world was different from on top of a horse. The colors were deeper. The sun shined brighter. The birds sang more sweetly.”
Maybelline is "the kind of a horse that enjoys the heck out of a compliment. You gotta talk sweet to Maybelline." She also eats a lot of grub and gets lonesome quick. As Leroy learns how to best take care of Maybelline, they begin to bond. "Had his heart been waiting for Maybelline to come along so that it would open wide and he could speak all the beautiful words that had been hiding inside of him?"
But when a storm separates the two, Leroy goes out in search of her, bootless, hatless and lassoless. He never felt less like a cowboy. But that doesn't matter anymore. He just cares about finding his friend.
Dag blibber it!
“Listen to the people of the world when they give you informational bits.” Kate DiCamillo, like Leroy, is "very good at poeticals." Sometimes life doesn't give us what we expect to get, but it's how you react to that that makes you who you are.
Leroy wants to be a cowboy like the ones he sees in the movies. He has a hat, boots and a lasso. Beatrice informs him that to be a cowboy, he needs a horse. So Leroy goes in search of a horse to make himself complete. He doesn't realize just how accurate that is. When he finds Maybelline, he “... noticed that the world was different from on top of a horse. The colors were deeper. The sun shined brighter. The birds sang more sweetly.”
Maybelline is "the kind of a horse that enjoys the heck out of a compliment. You gotta talk sweet to Maybelline." She also eats a lot of grub and gets lonesome quick. As Leroy learns how to best take care of Maybelline, they begin to bond. "Had his heart been waiting for Maybelline to come along so that it would open wide and he could speak all the beautiful words that had been hiding inside of him?"
But when a storm separates the two, Leroy goes out in search of her, bootless, hatless and lassoless. He never felt less like a cowboy. But that doesn't matter anymore. He just cares about finding his friend.
Dag blibber it!
“Listen to the people of the world when they give you informational bits.” Kate DiCamillo, like Leroy, is "very good at poeticals." Sometimes life doesn't give us what we expect to get, but it's how you react to that that makes you who you are.
March 24, 2017
*I decided to repeat this as a read aloud in a week leading up to spring break. I agree with most all I spoke about a year ago. I love how it's short, to the point, and offers great opportunities for creative interpretation and humor. My class enjoyed it and seemed to be interested in finding out more about the rest of the series. I am too and need to check on finding the other two out now.
I purchased this upon seeing it in my last class book order. I love Kate DiCamillo and like sharing her stories with my students. In teaching younger ones, though, this is the first where I can have no hesitations in sharing it to the whole class! This was quick, silly, but tells a good tale. The students loved Leroy and Maybelline, and the illustrations provided a nice partnership with the read aloud.
I purchased this upon seeing it in my last class book order. I love Kate DiCamillo and like sharing her stories with my students. In teaching younger ones, though, this is the first where I can have no hesitations in sharing it to the whole class! This was quick, silly, but tells a good tale. The students loved Leroy and Maybelline, and the illustrations provided a nice partnership with the read aloud.
December 4, 2016
Since I hadn't read a Mercy Watson book in a while, I didn't recognize the main character of this one, and so blinked a bit at the apparently random mention of his former life as a thief, which seemed to have nothing to do with the story. In retrospect I liked the comment; plenty of kids have people in their lives with similar stories, and don't they have dreams, too? But I fear it was there purely to hint at a connection to the other series.
The other baffling thing I couldn't dismiss was the fact that at the end of the story, LeRoy still hadn't figured out a proper barn and food source for his horse. Perhaps on Deckawoo Drive there's never going to be thunder and lightning again?
One thing I did love was the horse's insatiable appetite for flattery, and Leroy's unexpected skill at providing it.
The other baffling thing I couldn't dismiss was the fact that at the end of the story, LeRoy still hadn't figured out a proper barn and food source for his horse. Perhaps on Deckawoo Drive there's never going to be thunder and lightning again?
One thing I did love was the horse's insatiable appetite for flattery, and Leroy's unexpected skill at providing it.
September 5, 2014
In this imaginative book, Leroy Ninker learns to "take fate in his hands" and go after his dream. it is a message of "you can do it if you put your mind to it." Of course Leroy has to learn a few lessons on his way to getting his dream of being a cowboy and owning a horse. Humorous and inspirational!
November 6, 2015
A perfect read-aloud for a kindergarten, 1st, or 2nd grade classroom or perfect for a home read-aloud. Very sweet. Read DiCamillo's Mercy Watson books, too, as Mercy the Pig has a cameo appearance. The repetition of some words could get tiresome, but the "poeticals" are worth it.
Read
June 24, 2017I love this little man with big dreams and and an even bigger heart, but the idea of a horse eating spaghetti and living on the front walk of an apartment bothers me so much I cannot decide how to rate this. And what's up w/ Beatrice; will we meet her in a future book?
April 12, 2014
Kate DiCamillo once again proves that she can write for a wide audience. Fans of Mercy Watson and Bink and Gollie will fall for Leroy Ninker, Maybelline (his horse), and Patty LeMarque.
October 29, 2014
Leroy Ninker is a very small man with a big heart. This book is perfect for second graders who love the Mercy Watson series. Heartwarming and funny!
February 12, 2015
I know to expect greatness from Kate DiCamillo. Name any major prize for children's fiction in the U.S. and she's probably won it, sometimes more than once (as in the case of the biggest annual award of all, the John Newbery Medal). Kate DiCamillo's novels lack for nothing, full of characters exhibiting tremendous courage at seminal moments, moments that poignantly transfer over to our own life experiences as we consider what to make of them in the revealing light of great literature. The loveliness of Kate DiCamillo's language leaves a soft, dull ache in one's heart, as does the emotional entanglements of her assortment of characters, united and separated by the passage of time, and sometimes united again when they most desperately need each other's healing touch. These beautiful story elements are to be expected from classic Kate DiCamillo novels such as The Tale of Despereaux, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and The Magician's Elephant. Ms. DiCamillo has come through with excellence in her writing so consistently, there's no surprise left when she does it yet again, but I must admit I didn't see Leroy Ninker Saddles Up coming. The story is everything one could hope for from Kate DiCamillo, a soothing hand where sadness and hurt lie buried deepest, nourishing and understanding words spoken where they are painfully needed. Less than half as long as The Tale of Despereaux, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up is all the reassurance and wisdom our souls crave most, equally accessible and fit for appreciation by the youngest or oldest readers. It is, indeed, something special.
Little Leroy Ninker, an aspiring cowboy working to make ends meet at the local drive-in movie theater, gets some good advice when his friend Beatrice tells him there's more to becoming a cowboy than standing around dreaming of the day everything comes together to grant the wish. Every cowboy worth his salt needs a horse underneath him, and that's as good a place as any for Leroy to start. When a notice in the newspaper describes a horse for sale at a cheap price, Leroy takes Beatrice's advice and follows up on the advertisement. The sale is legit, only the horse isn't quite what Leroy pictured when he fantasized about the magnificent mount he would soon attain. The horse being offered Leroy is an elderly nag, still able to move at respectable speed, though not capable of getting around the way she did in her younger days. But Maybelline is a living, trotting horse, a necessity for anyone desiring to travel the open range like a true cowboy, and Leroy can't help but agree to the transaction that will make this horse his.
Armed with the three rules regarding Maybelline that her former owner imparts to Leroy before the sale (she needs to be sweet-talked, she eats a lot, and she mustn't be left alone), Leroy gallops happily around on his brand-new steed, overjoyed at looking like a real cowboy. When the two of them settle down for the night outside Leroy's small apartment, Leroy maintaining a river of complimentary comments to keep Maybelline relaxed and content, the miniature cowboy begins to seriously think about how much the sudden acquisition of this horse has brought to his life, what deep needs her presence has filled. "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life," he tells Maybelline quietly, outside under the starry skies. "I have done some things that I wish I had not done. I have taken some wrong turns." Pint-sized Leroy Ninker doesn't take for granted the aging horse of which he is so profoundly proud; he can't take her for granted, not after all the struggles he's gone through to get to the point in his life where he could actually be a decent companion for someone like Maybelline. Leroy once was a thief, swiping property that didn't belong to him, more desperado than gallant cowboy, and he doesn't ever want to go back to that life. Why live outside the law, suspicious of everyone and never being able to let a single soul get close to him, when he already has so much better than that in this one dusty old horse? Leroy is a result of the choices in his life calculated together toward an end product, and somehow that product is a positive one. A new life has begun for the former outlaw.
But when the horse of his heart, who shines "brighter than every star and every planet", loses her way in the cold wilderness outside Leroy's apartment, the diminutive cowboy's debut into authentic cowboy-hood—and everything else he has done to turn his life around—may be in jeopardy. Under the flashes of lightning and the soaking rain, where menace looms large in the mind of a frightened horse feeling consumed by the darkness lurking every which way, fearful that the heartfelt words spoken so gently by her new cowboy friend were nothing but mere words, it's easy to get more and more lost. It's easy to keep making wrong turns and straying further and further from the road that could lead home; the road that, if taken, could prove the affections of a certain tiny vaquero are much, much more than the kind words that represent them. A cowboy with a heart full of love to give, having long waited for a worthy recipient, and the horse who so badly needs to hear the expressions of that love, are destined to reunite in the comfort of their shared bond. A true cowboy like Leroy Ninker? Oh, he'd never give up on "the most splendiferous horse in all of creation", no matter how long it took to track her down. And Maybelline? Well, she's about to find out that pretty sentiments can run awfully deep, and when you have a friend like Leroy, you'd best cling to him real tight. Once you've shared a connection that close, it's the only way to live, isn't it?
For a short chapter book, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up sure handles a wide range of emotions astutely, a calling card of the legendary Kate DiCamillo. Like many readers imagining little Leroy hunkered down on a sleek steed, blowing by other would-be cowboys and demonstrating himself to be the coolest bronco-buster in town, I wasn't sure at first about Maybelline. She's a bit worn down, long in the tooth, and not the handsomest physical specimen. For a cowboy with a lot to prove to himself and others as to whether he should be taken seriously, a horse like Maybelline seems a less than ideal starting point. She requires a lot of maintenance, too; not only does Maybelline eat more than most horses, but she needs a constant stream of verbal niceties if she's to be kept calm, and that's harder work than one might think. But midway through the story it becomes obvious that Leroy needs to give those compliments every bit as much as Maybelline needs to hear them, and I think that is the moment we first understand how perfect a match horse and rider are for one another. From page forty-nine: "Had his heart been waiting for Maybelline to come along so that it could open wide and he could speak all the beautiful words that had been hiding inside of him?" The thought moved me in a big way when I read it, for I know exactly how it felt to be Leroy right then. Inside so many of us, our hearts are logjams of love desperately needing release, but without a suitable individual on whom to bestow that love, how can it ever be satisfyingly channeled? The many compliments Leroy gives Maybelline are more than a comical obedience to the demands of the pushy girl who sold the horse to him: they're a luminous declaration of everything Maybelline has already become to Leroy, the special individual on whom he can confer his most abiding affections after waiting so long for the chance. We all need a Maybelline in our life to huggle up next to, trade tender words with, and let them know, with everything we've got, that we're grateful we have them and there's nothing we wouldn't do for them. As nice as looking like a bona fide cowboy is, which has been Leroy Ninker's dream forever, it's nothing compared to having Maybelline. And it appears the excitement on Deckawoo Drive is just going to continue from here, with additional entries to come in the series.
How can I sufficiently praise this book? I'm not sure I can. To be so emotionally rewarded by a story that takes a matter of minutes to finish is an unexpected fulfillment, but it's what Kate DiCamillo does. Children's literature may never have had a better friend than her, and she sure is good to her young readers. Leroy Ninker Saddles Up has whetted my appetite for other books in the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, and if they come close to matching the comprehensive literary value of this first installment, then we're in for one of the finest series of its kind in all of American children's storytelling. I love Leroy Ninker Saddles Up, and unabashedly recommend it. One rarely finds a book this length that is so deep and so, so good.
Little Leroy Ninker, an aspiring cowboy working to make ends meet at the local drive-in movie theater, gets some good advice when his friend Beatrice tells him there's more to becoming a cowboy than standing around dreaming of the day everything comes together to grant the wish. Every cowboy worth his salt needs a horse underneath him, and that's as good a place as any for Leroy to start. When a notice in the newspaper describes a horse for sale at a cheap price, Leroy takes Beatrice's advice and follows up on the advertisement. The sale is legit, only the horse isn't quite what Leroy pictured when he fantasized about the magnificent mount he would soon attain. The horse being offered Leroy is an elderly nag, still able to move at respectable speed, though not capable of getting around the way she did in her younger days. But Maybelline is a living, trotting horse, a necessity for anyone desiring to travel the open range like a true cowboy, and Leroy can't help but agree to the transaction that will make this horse his.
Armed with the three rules regarding Maybelline that her former owner imparts to Leroy before the sale (she needs to be sweet-talked, she eats a lot, and she mustn't be left alone), Leroy gallops happily around on his brand-new steed, overjoyed at looking like a real cowboy. When the two of them settle down for the night outside Leroy's small apartment, Leroy maintaining a river of complimentary comments to keep Maybelline relaxed and content, the miniature cowboy begins to seriously think about how much the sudden acquisition of this horse has brought to his life, what deep needs her presence has filled. "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life," he tells Maybelline quietly, outside under the starry skies. "I have done some things that I wish I had not done. I have taken some wrong turns." Pint-sized Leroy Ninker doesn't take for granted the aging horse of which he is so profoundly proud; he can't take her for granted, not after all the struggles he's gone through to get to the point in his life where he could actually be a decent companion for someone like Maybelline. Leroy once was a thief, swiping property that didn't belong to him, more desperado than gallant cowboy, and he doesn't ever want to go back to that life. Why live outside the law, suspicious of everyone and never being able to let a single soul get close to him, when he already has so much better than that in this one dusty old horse? Leroy is a result of the choices in his life calculated together toward an end product, and somehow that product is a positive one. A new life has begun for the former outlaw.
But when the horse of his heart, who shines "brighter than every star and every planet", loses her way in the cold wilderness outside Leroy's apartment, the diminutive cowboy's debut into authentic cowboy-hood—and everything else he has done to turn his life around—may be in jeopardy. Under the flashes of lightning and the soaking rain, where menace looms large in the mind of a frightened horse feeling consumed by the darkness lurking every which way, fearful that the heartfelt words spoken so gently by her new cowboy friend were nothing but mere words, it's easy to get more and more lost. It's easy to keep making wrong turns and straying further and further from the road that could lead home; the road that, if taken, could prove the affections of a certain tiny vaquero are much, much more than the kind words that represent them. A cowboy with a heart full of love to give, having long waited for a worthy recipient, and the horse who so badly needs to hear the expressions of that love, are destined to reunite in the comfort of their shared bond. A true cowboy like Leroy Ninker? Oh, he'd never give up on "the most splendiferous horse in all of creation", no matter how long it took to track her down. And Maybelline? Well, she's about to find out that pretty sentiments can run awfully deep, and when you have a friend like Leroy, you'd best cling to him real tight. Once you've shared a connection that close, it's the only way to live, isn't it?
For a short chapter book, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up sure handles a wide range of emotions astutely, a calling card of the legendary Kate DiCamillo. Like many readers imagining little Leroy hunkered down on a sleek steed, blowing by other would-be cowboys and demonstrating himself to be the coolest bronco-buster in town, I wasn't sure at first about Maybelline. She's a bit worn down, long in the tooth, and not the handsomest physical specimen. For a cowboy with a lot to prove to himself and others as to whether he should be taken seriously, a horse like Maybelline seems a less than ideal starting point. She requires a lot of maintenance, too; not only does Maybelline eat more than most horses, but she needs a constant stream of verbal niceties if she's to be kept calm, and that's harder work than one might think. But midway through the story it becomes obvious that Leroy needs to give those compliments every bit as much as Maybelline needs to hear them, and I think that is the moment we first understand how perfect a match horse and rider are for one another. From page forty-nine: "Had his heart been waiting for Maybelline to come along so that it could open wide and he could speak all the beautiful words that had been hiding inside of him?" The thought moved me in a big way when I read it, for I know exactly how it felt to be Leroy right then. Inside so many of us, our hearts are logjams of love desperately needing release, but without a suitable individual on whom to bestow that love, how can it ever be satisfyingly channeled? The many compliments Leroy gives Maybelline are more than a comical obedience to the demands of the pushy girl who sold the horse to him: they're a luminous declaration of everything Maybelline has already become to Leroy, the special individual on whom he can confer his most abiding affections after waiting so long for the chance. We all need a Maybelline in our life to huggle up next to, trade tender words with, and let them know, with everything we've got, that we're grateful we have them and there's nothing we wouldn't do for them. As nice as looking like a bona fide cowboy is, which has been Leroy Ninker's dream forever, it's nothing compared to having Maybelline. And it appears the excitement on Deckawoo Drive is just going to continue from here, with additional entries to come in the series.
How can I sufficiently praise this book? I'm not sure I can. To be so emotionally rewarded by a story that takes a matter of minutes to finish is an unexpected fulfillment, but it's what Kate DiCamillo does. Children's literature may never have had a better friend than her, and she sure is good to her young readers. Leroy Ninker Saddles Up has whetted my appetite for other books in the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, and if they come close to matching the comprehensive literary value of this first installment, then we're in for one of the finest series of its kind in all of American children's storytelling. I love Leroy Ninker Saddles Up, and unabashedly recommend it. One rarely finds a book this length that is so deep and so, so good.
May 27, 2019
So A and I were looking for an easy chapter book and it had to have horses in it. As we looked at the public library and this book was the one A wanted. Funny thing is when we finished the book I found the book on my kindle. I totally forgot I downloaded it from the BookIt program from Pizza Hut!
A really loved this book and especially how Leroy would forget the rules on taking care of Maybelline. This is a cute chapter book that will just have you going aww Maybelline and Leroy. Leroy wants a horse as he is a cowboy and he dreams of all the things he can do with a horse. When he finally gets his dream to come true, he will have to make sure he remembers all the rules he was told. Overall this was a cute book that I know A enjoyed. I plan on reading more to her by this author! Now in reality and this is something I had to explain to A was that if you have a horse you have to make sure they have everything they need. That in the story Maybelline doesn't such as a big place to run around, a barn and a huge field, but it is just a story and that is what she needs to remember if taking in a pet.
A really loved this book and especially how Leroy would forget the rules on taking care of Maybelline. This is a cute chapter book that will just have you going aww Maybelline and Leroy. Leroy wants a horse as he is a cowboy and he dreams of all the things he can do with a horse. When he finally gets his dream to come true, he will have to make sure he remembers all the rules he was told. Overall this was a cute book that I know A enjoyed. I plan on reading more to her by this author! Now in reality and this is something I had to explain to A was that if you have a horse you have to make sure they have everything they need. That in the story Maybelline doesn't such as a big place to run around, a barn and a huge field, but it is just a story and that is what she needs to remember if taking in a pet.
June 22, 2022
This book is cute but it's not a great fit for any of my kids. It's too long for a bedtime story, too hard for the child who liked the illustrations to read, and too childish for the kid who can read it.
Leroy works at a movie theater. He loves the westerns. He dresses up like a cowboy. He gets a horse. She gets loose. He finds her, and together they meet a whole new family of friends.
There are some funny little scenes. The horse eats spaghetti. Leroy tries getting the horse to come inside, but she won't fit in the apartment so he sleeps with her on the sidewalk. He learns the rules of keeping horses, one of which is to compliment the horse. The compliments are ridiculous.
Leroy works at a movie theater. He loves the westerns. He dresses up like a cowboy. He gets a horse. She gets loose. He finds her, and together they meet a whole new family of friends.
There are some funny little scenes. The horse eats spaghetti. Leroy tries getting the horse to come inside, but she won't fit in the apartment so he sleeps with her on the sidewalk. He learns the rules of keeping horses, one of which is to compliment the horse. The compliments are ridiculous.
November 5, 2023
All I can say is-- find a man who looks at you and talks to you like Leroy looks at/ talks to his horse, Maybelline. Leroy wants to be a cowboy but he needs a horse. He finds a cheap horse that has 4 teeth and a quirky personality. She needs lots of compliments, lots of food and to never be alone. Same, girl, same. The 2 have a sweet friendship and they get separated and do anything to find each other. So sweet!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 489 reviews