This Is Texas, Y'all, by Misha Blaise

Like Misha Blaise, I wasn't born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could.  (I was 2.)  Blaise has become enamored enough with her adopted home state to write a children's book about Texas.  This Is Texas, Y'all: The Lone Star State from A to Z features some of the great things about Texas for every letter of the alphabet.

Any Texan will enjoy seeing their favorite things and places colorfully illustrated in This Is Texas, Y'all.  The Alamo, Dr Pepper, Big Tex, Hamilton Pool, Enchanted Rock, Selena, the Texas Two-Step.  I would also venture to say that any Texan will learn something about the Lone Star State.  I learned (or maybe I re-learned) that the first permanent civilian settlers in Texas, in what is now San Antonio, were from the Canary Islands.  I learned that the oldest skeleton found in the Western Hemisphere is Midland Minnie, discovered near Midland in 1953.  I learned about the "Queens of Cattle" who managed huge herds in South Texas long before the King Ranch was established.

At times it seems like Blaise bent over a little backwards to be inclusive.  Sure, some Texans celebrate Eid al-Fitr, and of course there are Buddhists and Hindus in Texas, but are these distinctive or historically and culturally significant?  Those groups are part of Texas as a modern metropolitan state, but they are not part of what made Texas Texas.  Juneteenth and Dia de los Muertos do, on the other hand, have distinctive Texan expression and significance.  Besides the Spanish, the Germans and Czechs were among the first settlers.  Clearly Texas is a multi-ethnic mishmash.

Blaise's illustrations are simple, colorful, and fun.  Texans who love their state will love This Is Texas, Y'all.  Non-Texans need to pick it up and get a clue as to why Texas is the greatest state in the union!

(Just one last question: Why is Lyle Lovett's song lyric in the K section?)





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!