Granny and her pajama-clad grandson’s adventures begin in true tall-tale fashion when the two bounce out of a covered wagon and into a prickly pear cactus on the family’s journey west. The wagon goes on without them, and Granny, with Little Critter at her side, draws on skills she’s learned from her grandparents, parents and various aunts and uncles (all featured in a gallery at the book’s end) to keep them alive and well. She catches a giant fish, lassoes and captures bad poet/stagecoach robber Rose Rogers, rides a fast pony to California with the mail, successfully pans for gold and, once reunited with geographically impaired Pa and the rest of the family, builds a house and plays a banjo to celebrate. Huliska-Beith’s collages, which feature fabric, stitchery, paper, acrylic and digital elements, are as lively, exaggerated and full of jokes as the drawling, tongue-in cheek text, extending it with word art, boxes and sidebars. An author’s note provides facts relating to the story. Whoo-hoo for this rollicking ride! (Picture book. 5-9)
