Home on the Range by Deborah Hopkinson

Home on the Range: John A. Lomax and His Cowboy Songs by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by S.D. Schindler, GP Putnam's Sons, 2009.
More Western flavor from the author who gave us Stagecoach Sal. This book, however, is a true story about John A. Lomax, the boy who was "singing the sun awake in the morning and crooning the moon to sleep at night." Set on a farm "near the old Chisholm Trail", the story relays how farm workers and cattle drivers alike would create songs to pass the day and make the chores easier. John eventually wrote all these songs down and stored them in the bottom of an old trunk. While a student at the University of Texas, he showed the songs to a professor, who found no value in "these songs of plain, ordinary folk." However, after going back to school at Harvard University, he met a professor "who changed his life." Professor Barrett Wendell did something really creative: he had his students write about their home, and report it to the class. Risking ridicule, John wrote about the home and the cowboy songs that he loved. John asked for help from the folks back home, and the letters poured in! As John tells his story and sings his songs, the illustrator cleverly transports the class to the plains of Texas, complete with campfire. After his time at Harvard, John continued to collect and preserve these cowboy songs. This book reminds us of the importance of "our families, our homes, our work, and our troubles", and the songs that accompany us on the journey.
Visit the author's website.