COWGIRL DREAMING
by R.J. Owens ; illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Dreams, both personal and societal, parade on full display.
When a young Black girl awakens, she discovers that today’s the day. It’s time for the Black Cowboy Parade, and she’ll be riding the palomino pony Garbo. Trouble is, she’s a little nervous about riding, just as Garbo’s a little scared of the parade. What starts as a simple exercise in soothing nerves deepens into something more, though, as they pass a memorial for Rickey, the girl’s older brother, and she remembers his words about changing the world with her riding. Soon the family unfurls a banner declaring “NO MORE GUNS,” a clear allusion to how that change might take place. Inspired by both the image of Brianna Noble on her Appaloosa at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest and the Oakland Black Cowboy Association parade, Owens deftly interlocks social consciousness with a good story brimming with fun alliteration (“Garbo slows down and nods and clip-clops and ticktocks like a clock on the blacktop”). Meanwhile, Pinkney Barlow plays with colorful art and textures, incorporating fabrics into her mixed-media artwork, as when she uses burlap for a horse’s skin.
Protest and pageantry go hand in hand in this rousing tribute to equestrian dreams of every type.
(Picture book. 4-8)