What do you think?
Rate this book
Lexie the Word Wrangler
Lexie is the best wrangler west of the Mississippi, word wrangler, that is. She watches over baby letters while they grow into words and ties shorter words together into longer ones; she herds words into sentences, hitches sentences together, and pens them all in to tell a story. But lately, something seems off at the ranch. First the "d" goes missing from her "bandana," leaving her with a "banana" to tie around her neck, and soon afterward every "S-T-A-R" in the sky turns into "R-A-T-S." There's no doubt about it there's a word rustler causing this ruckus, and Lexie plans to track him down.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2017
6 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
June 5, 2020
Rebecca Van Slyke hit the nail on the head with this one. What a creative way to learn about compound words. I loved the colorful illustrations and it is an easy out loud read. 5 stars for sure
Happy word wrangling!
December 5, 2020
Featured in a grandma reads session.
Lexie is a word wrangler, and can demonstrate how anyone can grab a word and hook it up with another and end out with an entirely new concept. The magic of English!
My group is in the very middle of their learning to read, write and interpret this language they've been born to, and growing up have heard spoken colloquially. A Very Different Beast than that which they now have to sort out in their school work. The written word placed on a page is not at all the sloppy, snappy, ultra cool and socially weighted groan, grunt or twerp a spoken word is. . . .that first sound and coo they've heard in their life. Reconciling this in grade school becomes one of the most important efforts they and their parents will ever engage in, and will place them (for better or worse?) more solidly in a social class than just about anything else they will do. . .
So. . . .I'm 100% for Lexie and her word wrangling. Attention was paid, and all eyes where forward facing, glued on the western artwork that expressed Lexie's super word-power actions. Hats and boots on all!
5 stars. W-O-R-D-S.
Lexie is a word wrangler, and can demonstrate how anyone can grab a word and hook it up with another and end out with an entirely new concept. The magic of English!
My group is in the very middle of their learning to read, write and interpret this language they've been born to, and growing up have heard spoken colloquially. A Very Different Beast than that which they now have to sort out in their school work. The written word placed on a page is not at all the sloppy, snappy, ultra cool and socially weighted groan, grunt or twerp a spoken word is. . . .that first sound and coo they've heard in their life. Reconciling this in grade school becomes one of the most important efforts they and their parents will ever engage in, and will place them (for better or worse?) more solidly in a social class than just about anything else they will do. . .
So. . . .I'm 100% for Lexie and her word wrangling. Attention was paid, and all eyes where forward facing, glued on the western artwork that expressed Lexie's super word-power actions. Hats and boots on all!
5 stars. W-O-R-D-S.
May 24, 2017
Lexie lives on a ranch, wrangling words. When strange things start happening, like her bandanna losing its "d" and becoming a banana or the desert getting an extra "s" and becoming sticky and sweet, she realizes she needs to figure out who the word rustler is. This fun picture book shows how much fun playing with words can be. Using bright, humorous paintings to illustrate these wordy circumstances, this would be a fun book to share with young readers. There is a glossary of ranch-related words to help readers at the end of the book. It might be a fun way to inspire kids to create their own wordplay stories.
June 30, 2017
Wrestling with words is Lexie's talent, and she is great with words and letters. When a mysterious person begins to mess with her messages and words, Lexie is out to find the culprit and set things right.
April 24, 2017
This will be a really fun read aloud. Kids will enjoy seeing how words are put together, taken apart or grown.
July 18, 2017
3.5 rating. Good for learning language skills.
May 16, 2017
For someone working with early readers, this will be a new way to examine how words work. Lexie this ‘wrangler’ shows how she “ropes” words to create something new, like taking a stick of butter and a fly to make a butterfly. She also watches over the “baby letters” and watches them grow into bigger and bigger words. “A” turns into “at” and then “cat” and “cattle”. Alas, there is trouble in this story, wrought by the “word rustler” who does terrible things like change “desert” into “dessert”. Lexie is smart, however, catches and persuades this rustler to become a wrangler too. Colorful and cartoon-like illustrations help tell the story and together will start fun word activities, along with lots of smiles for this “wordy” story.
May 29, 2017
This is a great book for a classroom library. It goes over so many types of words and use of words, like in figurative language, and it is just plain fun. Reading it in the western "cowgirl" accent was fun to share with the class. Also, I read it a few times first and each time I continued to find things I wanted to share and enjoy with the class. This was one of those books I stumbled on, had never heard of before and will recommend to all the teachers I know. What a fun book.
April 21, 2017
Love. Love. Love this book! Would love to see/hear more from Lexie the Word Wrangler & Russell the Word Wrestler! Some clever word play here! (I'll bet Lexie would enjoy hanging out with Natalie Lloyd's own word collector, Felicity Pickle!)
February 1, 2020
We thought the ideas and messaging were okay but weren't too fond of the illustration style. The language was interesting - definitely very American in its setting.
Miss 5 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Miss 5 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
April 9, 2017
Lexie is the best word wrangler in the west. She could turn pots into posts, grow baby letters into words and even put words together to tell a story. Then a word rustler appeared on the scene!
Very fun book full of all sorts of interesting word play. Jessie Hartland's distinctive illustrations add to the fun. Great book for kids with enough reading mastery to enjoy word play.
Very fun book full of all sorts of interesting word play. Jessie Hartland's distinctive illustrations add to the fun. Great book for kids with enough reading mastery to enjoy word play.
January 11, 2018
Word Girl in cowboy form. It was quite clunky to read.
October 31, 2017
This is a book that with its texts, hits all the keys of a great picture book. The story is creative and fun. The girl Lexie is a word wrangler and do awesome things with her ability. While something is going wrong when she found out words were missing or misplaced, which turned the world into a totally wired place. On the surface, the book introduced of the playful idea of gaming with words, which could potentially foster Kidd’s love of literature and writing. The deeper meaning is a bit metaphorical, that words change ones world, with a little bit cynicism, kids will be able to get later.
The pace of this book is a little off though, it spent six pages on the background of this little girl, 6 pages on catching the book. The first part, is a little bit too long, and kids are starting to lose their patience almost. It was only after that transition, kids are able to focus again. The illustration is a negative for this book. I understand that lots of illustrators mimic childish strokes, and I myself as an illustrator do it all the time. While art is different from doodle, lines still need to be well-thought. The illustration in this book failed to do so. With lots of disturbing details, as complained by many readers here. These two factors, possibly together with the fact that not everyone enjoys twisting word, led to its current rating.
The pace of this book is a little off though, it spent six pages on the background of this little girl, 6 pages on catching the book. The first part, is a little bit too long, and kids are starting to lose their patience almost. It was only after that transition, kids are able to focus again. The illustration is a negative for this book. I understand that lots of illustrators mimic childish strokes, and I myself as an illustrator do it all the time. While art is different from doodle, lines still need to be well-thought. The illustration in this book failed to do so. With lots of disturbing details, as complained by many readers here. These two factors, possibly together with the fact that not everyone enjoys twisting word, led to its current rating.
July 4, 2017
Lexie, the Word Wrangler is clever, clever, clever with words! Truly a word lover’s delight.
On the open plains, Lexie wrangles together an ear of corn and a loaf of bread to make some tasty cornbread. She watches over little baby letters until they grow into bigger words: a, at, cat, cattle. She wrangles a whole passel of words together to make sentences. But one day the d was missing from her bandana and the rain was missing from rainbow and a red bow hung in the sky. A word rustler was loose! “It’s high time to trap this scoundrel,” she said and she waited in a tree determined to stop the rustler. Then, long about sundown, the rustler lassoed the long in longhorn. Lexie jumped into action, lassoing the rustler. Fascinated with words himself, he joined forces with Lexie and even helped the other young’uns learn to hitch words together.
A treasure trove of how words work together.
On the open plains, Lexie wrangles together an ear of corn and a loaf of bread to make some tasty cornbread. She watches over little baby letters until they grow into bigger words: a, at, cat, cattle. She wrangles a whole passel of words together to make sentences. But one day the d was missing from her bandana and the rain was missing from rainbow and a red bow hung in the sky. A word rustler was loose! “It’s high time to trap this scoundrel,” she said and she waited in a tree determined to stop the rustler. Then, long about sundown, the rustler lassoed the long in longhorn. Lexie jumped into action, lassoing the rustler. Fascinated with words himself, he joined forces with Lexie and even helped the other young’uns learn to hitch words together.
A treasure trove of how words work together.
January 26, 2020
Word play can be fun for some children. Rebecca Van Slyke has woven word play into a fun story in Lexie, the Word Wrangler. The book looks at small words inside of longer words as well as compound words. Jessie Hartland’s paintings which illustrate the book are somewhat whimsical in nature and incorporate some of the text. Teachers will find a use for Lexie, the Word Wrangler as part of either a spelling or language/English unit.
Van Slyke ends the book with a dictionary of Wrangler Words - wish she had called it a glossary since that is what we teach students when we discuss Book Parts. The glossary is helpful for those unfamiliar with ranching terms.
Lexie, the Word Wrangler is on the Land of Enchantment Roadrunner list for this school year. I will be adding it to my K-12 Christian School library so that my students can participate in the voting.
I borrowed a copy of Lexie, the Word Wrangler from my public library. This is my honest review.
Van Slyke ends the book with a dictionary of Wrangler Words - wish she had called it a glossary since that is what we teach students when we discuss Book Parts. The glossary is helpful for those unfamiliar with ranching terms.
Lexie, the Word Wrangler is on the Land of Enchantment Roadrunner list for this school year. I will be adding it to my K-12 Christian School library so that my students can participate in the voting.
I borrowed a copy of Lexie, the Word Wrangler from my public library. This is my honest review.
February 22, 2020
This is a very interesting story. Lexie, the word Wrangler, changes and makes words and sentences. She works on a ranch, and the author used southern slang/words as well. Then, letters and words begin disappearing, completely changing the object (rats in the sky instead of stars) and she had to figure out why. She found out who was behind it, and turned him into a Word Wrangler too.
The main theme in this book is forming words, and the importance of proper spelling.
I loved this book, especially the illustrations. They made the story make sense and come to life. Without them, the story would be a lot harder to follow.
I think this book would be very beneficial when learning to spell. It shows how if you spell a word wrong, the whole meaning of something can change. It also is a great introduction to showing how multiple words can make up one word.
The main theme in this book is forming words, and the importance of proper spelling.
I loved this book, especially the illustrations. They made the story make sense and come to life. Without them, the story would be a lot harder to follow.
I think this book would be very beneficial when learning to spell. It shows how if you spell a word wrong, the whole meaning of something can change. It also is a great introduction to showing how multiple words can make up one word.
June 28, 2017
The pictures in this book aren't my favorite or it would be a 4.25 but right now it is a 4 stars
This book made me chuckle and think and wonder! My horrors come true "That night , when Lexie unrolled her sleeping bag, the twinkling s-t-a-r in the car turned into R-a-t-s. "Ain't no fun sleeping out under the rats," she said "Looks like we got us a wold rustler.""
A fun book about world scrambling, and spelling. I have never ridden through the dessert but it SOUNDS yummy because deserts are hot and dry. (and in my world I have a Deseret...means beehive and is name of stores and is also a place..and is commonly used where I live...so mix that one with dessert, desert and Deseret!)
This book made me chuckle and think and wonder! My horrors come true "That night , when Lexie unrolled her sleeping bag, the twinkling s-t-a-r in the car turned into R-a-t-s. "Ain't no fun sleeping out under the rats," she said "Looks like we got us a wold rustler.""
A fun book about world scrambling, and spelling. I have never ridden through the dessert but it SOUNDS yummy because deserts are hot and dry. (and in my world I have a Deseret...means beehive and is name of stores and is also a place..and is commonly used where I live...so mix that one with dessert, desert and Deseret!)
October 14, 2018
This book, like 24 others, is a potential Show Me Nominee for the 2018-19 school year. What fun it has been to read all 25 books and help choose the ten nominees that most Missouri school children will read with their librarian next year.
I don't love the art in this story, but the word nerd in me adores this story. I was an elementary school classroom teacher for four years, and I would have loved having this book as a mentor text. I would use it to introduce a series of lessons on words and how they work. Lexie is a Word Wrangler. She can make compound words, anagrams, more. Her misspellings make punny humor and her adventures on the ranch are great fun. I love this book!
I don't love the art in this story, but the word nerd in me adores this story. I was an elementary school classroom teacher for four years, and I would have loved having this book as a mentor text. I would use it to introduce a series of lessons on words and how they work. Lexie is a Word Wrangler. She can make compound words, anagrams, more. Her misspellings make punny humor and her adventures on the ranch are great fun. I love this book!
February 11, 2019
This is a great book for introducing lessons, especially compound words. It would also be a great read aloud followed by a mock up game where the kids could use rope, strong string, or even sticky hands that have the sticky rope to them, then using almost anything such as paper, cans, etc. have them try to rope in 2 separate words that together create a compound word. It is an entertaining story that is well written and put together that is a great resource for introducing many possibilities aside from compound words.
May 27, 2020
Lexie is the best wrangler west of the Mississippi, word wrangler, that is. She watches over baby letters while they grow into words and ties shorter words together into longer ones; she herds words into sentences, hitches sentences together, and pens them all in to tell a story. But lately, something seems off at the ranch. First the "d" goes missing from her "bandana," leaving her with a "banana" to tie around her neck, and soon afterward every "S-T-A-R" in the sky turns into "R-A-T-S." There's no doubt about it there's a word rustler causing this ruckus, and Lexie plans to track him down.
November 16, 2017
Story about compound words and spelling told in a playful western tale.
Some words are spelled out as if from rope when we first are shown Lexie's talent as word wrangler. The endpapers have hello and goodbye in a similar fashion.
Kids won't get "dogies" became "doggies" (heck, I didn't know dogies were orphaned calves) without the dictionary at the back which is helpful but found only when finished reading.
Artwork is not my favorite.
Some words are spelled out as if from rope when we first are shown Lexie's talent as word wrangler. The endpapers have hello and goodbye in a similar fashion.
Kids won't get "dogies" became "doggies" (heck, I didn't know dogies were orphaned calves) without the dictionary at the back which is helpful but found only when finished reading.
Artwork is not my favorite.
August 9, 2023
Lexi was a great wrangler who could not only do her cowgirl job, but she could also do amazing things with letters. She was a word wrangler! Lexi cared for baby letters and made them into big words that she used in sentences for everyday use. Then one day letters and parts of words were disappearing, and some letters were added, which made different words. Lexi set out to find out who was doing this word rustling.
Cute story and illustrations.
Cute story and illustrations.
June 13, 2017
Lexie the World Wrangler by Rebecca Van Slyke is the perfect book for any cowpoke who loves to play with words and letters! Put them together and break them apart to solve the mystery of the word rustler who is mixing up words on the ranch and causing all sorts of havoc! Rip-snortin' fun for readers ages 6 - 9.
August 22, 2017
Cute illustrations and a fun cowboy setting allows this main character to "wrangle" letters to create words, word families, and stories of her own. This would be a nice additional purchase for a larger collection. The illustrations by Jessie Hartland are fun gouache paint that is lively and interesting and do connect to and even expand the story comprehension, I think.
September 22, 2017
Teachers will enjoy this story and the connection to the Language Arts Core and it would allow for some great extension activities, but I didn't love the illustrations, especially the one in which Lexie is wearing pink pajamas that make it appear as though she is nude (which I am guessing wasn't intentional).
February 2, 2018
This would have been a brilliant book BUT, it's really really really American. I loved the way the words were unpacked and combined and it's perfect for students learning to read BUT they just didn't get the whole premise of ranching and rustling etc. Teaching in a non-USA/Canadian context I guess it helps me understand why those classrooms would reject European or Asia books for the same reason.
April 5, 2018
I loved this book! I love that this book talks about putting words together and it has a good story behind it. I love at the end where they come together to fix all the mess. This book has themes of determination and learning to put words together. I would use this book as a read aloud and then do a worksheet on how to learn to put compound words together.
April 27, 2018
This book was incredibly clever! This could be read to any elementary class. You could do so many activities depending on your grade's standards. Also, it could be a great mentor text because it shows the importance of using our talents for good. You could do writing and sharing activities with that topic as well.
February 4, 2021
This book was a cute way to show students that words can be switched around and changed to have very different meanings. I put this book in the fantasy section because the events in this book make it hard to put it in realistic fiction. Throughout the book Lexie sees things like rats in the sky instead of stars because there was a "word rustler".
March 7, 2021
This book is extremely clever and enjoyable for all ages. Lexie the word wrangler watches over baby letters while they grow into words, but has to hunt down a word rustler who is mixing words up! This is a great read for students who are learning how to read and learning the differences between words. I cannot wait to use this in my future classroom!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews