RODEO

In a departure from his characteristic still-life photos of bridges, tools, flowers, and the elements, Robbins (Earth, 1995, etc.) turns his camera to a much more kinetic subject—the rodeo. He first reaches back 150 years to provide readers with a brief history of the rodeo. Interspersing cowboy colloquialisms with facts, this concise photo essay clearly defines and describes the rules of the rodeo and its major events. From bareback bronc riding to steer wrestling, calf roping to female barrel racing, Robbins shows how this fierce, dusty, bone-crushing wild-ride-of-a-sport is not for the faint-hearted. Surprisingly, hand-tinted photos work just as well for action shots of bucking bulls and broncos as they do for lonely portraits of empty bleachers, suggesting anticipation while framing and accentuating the rough and tumble events that show ``how a cowboy plays.'' (Picture book/nonfiction. 7+)