Ten-Gallon Bart by Susan Stevens Crummel, illustrated by Dorothy Donohue is a great western picture book, perfect for sharing.  Sheriff Bart has been the sheriff of Dog City for ten years and now is ready to retire.  But on his last day as sheriff, Billy the Kid heads to town.  Bart stands up to the angry goat, but is knocked out.  Then the rest of Dog City comes to the sheriff’s rescue.  The illustrations by Donohue are paper art, adding their own humor and sense of style to the text.  The dialogue is snappy and filled with puns, and the rest of the text will have you getting your western drawl dancing on your tongue.  Great fun for everyone from first grade on down.  This is definitely one to keep in your storytime stable. 

Secret of the Pasture from Willow Creek Press is a nice little book.  It is the story of Piglet who wakes up and can’t find Belle, the horse who sleeps in the stable next to him.  Piglet journeys around the farm, trying to find Belle, encountering all sorts of farm animals from cows to ducks to chicks to cats and dogs.  The book also captures the open feeling of the countryside, the amazing blue of the sky next to the green of the crops.  I liked that it uses photographs combined with simple text, making it very inviting to children, especially boys who will enjoy the nonfiction feel of the book.  This one is great for farm storytimes for small ones or for beginning readers to try on their own.