Cowboy Andy by Edna Walker Chandler & Illus by E. Raymond Kintsler

This is one of those easy reader books that I remember from my childhood--the easy reader book heyday of the late 1980's. 

Pretty sure this was the first book my sister ever read. It was also the first book my son ever read. 

It has staying power. At least in my family. 

The problems in easy reader books are straightforward. 

Andy is a city boy, but wants to be a cowboy. 

His dad writes a handy cowboy friend to take on Andy and make him into a cowboy. 

We have a ready villain in Cook. He is determined the entire thing will be a disaster. 

A little conflict is so important in moving easy reader plots along.  

Andy gets to Sam's Ranch. There is no fooling around with ranch names here. It belongs to Sam, so it is Sam's ranch. No reason to complicate things, folks. 

Cook's scowl. 

Man to man chats under the full moon. 

Andy setting off to be a cowboy. 

Now was the time to show Cook that he could be a cowboy.

You show 'em, Andy!

There are several necessary disasters and setbacks in his quest where Cook says things like "See? I told you so. Andy will never be a cowboy." And finally, Andy wins the calf riding event at the rodeo. And Cook concedes that Andy is a really honest to goodness cowboy. 

See? Life might seem complex, but it isn't. An easy reader can sort it in 60 short, picture filled pages.