Fantasy: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Title: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch 

Author: Anne Isaacs

Illustrator: Kevin Hawkes 

Genre: Fantasy (Fantasy Based in Folklore and Mythology) 

Major Awards:,Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Grades 3-6 (2016), The Magnolia Award Nominee for K-2 (2016) 

Age Group: 6-9 years old

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, by Anne Isaacs is one of those children’s books that blends traditional literature with fantastical elements. In Meanwhile back at the Ranch, the protagonist Widow Tulip Jones was recently widowed and inherited thirty- five million dollars and a ranch in By-Golly Gully Texas. Therefore, Tulip Jones packed her things and moved to By-Golly Gully Texas with her three ranch hands Linsey, Woolsey, and Calico, and her 12 tortoises. When they arrived in Texas, Tulip Jones decided she wanted to plant a garden and to her surprise all the fruits and vegetables she planted grew “faster, bigger, and better,” so big that the carcass on one watermelon turned into their hay shed. Everything was bigger in Texas including her 12 tortoises, they grew so big that she rode them around the ranch as if they were horses. Soon word got around to all the Cowboys in Texas that Tulip Jones was recently widowed, unmarried, and had inherited thirty-five million dollars and a ranch. All the Cowboys in Texas lined up outside of Tulip Jones house to court her. One thousand men came to Tulip Jones houses every day for tea and pastries, so much so that she hired a Baker Charlie Doughpuncher to help her. Soon Charlie became her confidant and Tulip Jones would always come into the kitchen to talk to him about the suitors that came that day, and to give her advice. Charlie would always tell her “try this and give her a pastry”. Tulip Jones was tired of having all these suitors at her house and wanted them all to leave. In turn she comes up with impossible tasks that she thought the suitors would never be able to complete to get rid of them. When her plan doesn’t work, Tulip Jones’s ranch hands help her devise a plan that later works perfectly. After all the suitors are gone and Tulip Jones can’t find Charlie Doughpuncher, she realizes that if all the suitors are gone she will no longer need his services. This makes her sad because she realizes she does in fact need him. To her surprise Charlie Doughpuncher returns to the ranch and asks Tulip Jones to “try this,” but this time rather than being a pastry, it was a wedding ring!

Meanwhile back at the Ranch, was by far one of the funniest most adorable children’s books I’ve ever read.  The book itself was so fun and playful and after reading it I couldn’t help but smile. I feel that students reading this book or having it read to them will have the same experience. This is a really good book to add to any 1st-4th grade class library. I would choose to read this to my students during a read aloud, or just as a fun last story to read to the students before the end of the day. If I were to incorporate this book into the classroom I would most likely create an integrated lesson plan blending Reading Language Arts with Social Studies. In class I would read Meanwhile back at the Ranch as a fun and humorous way to introduce the topic of Texas and what it means to be a Texan around the time of Go Texans Day and the Rodeo. I believe the students would really enjoy listening to this story in class and it will be one that they remember for a long time.