Lexie the Word Wrangler — Rebecca Van Slyke

This clever celebration of words and their meanings features a strong cowgirl who wrangles words alongside cattle.

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 . . . even if it means riding her horse through the sticky icing of a desert that's suddenly become a giant dessert.

This fantastic spin on “cowboy” stories populates Lexie's ranch with lively letters and words, alongside the typical cattle and horses, and stars a smart, confident, charismatic heroine. Rebecca Van Slyke's creative, silly wordplay pairs perfectly with Jessie Hartland's lively illustrations, and there's even a glossary of helpful terms for up-and-coming word wranglers.