'Twas the Night Before Round-Up

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When powerful horses dressed in silvery tack sweep into the arena, four energetic cowkids grab reins, swing onto the mounts and ride like the wind. The cowkids showcase their skills in pole bending, bronc riding, calf roping and more. In the end the cowkids face a choice to stay in the arena or stay with the horses and . . . “answer the call to dash away, fly away, zip away all.”

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Written and released as a hardback in celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the Pendleton Round-up, this story proved popular with cowkids in Oregon and all over the world and sold out as a collector’s item. Demand remained high so it was re-released as a paperback in 2013.

 

“Exposing children to an appealing regional event is what I hoped to do with ‘Twas the Night Before Round-Up” said Nancy. “There were no other children’s books about the Round-Up and with the 100th anniversary coming up I felt Oregon kids needed to be included in this historic event.”

 

An added appeal to producing this book was that both Nancy and Joan had relatives who participated in previous Round-Ups. Nancy’s relative Grandpa George Attebury was a Saddle Bronc rider in the 1912 Pendleton Round-Up and on Joan’s  side, Brent Gilbert was a Bull Rider in the Round-Up during the mid 1970’s.