Eight-year-old Ashel is worried about a baby raccoon he heard while coon hunting with the Landers boys. He and his mother try to rescue the baby coon, but not before facing an alligator in the process. A bluetick puppy arrives on this doorstep and Ashel wonders if the puppy and the raccoon can get along. Cowboy Pete gives Ashel and a little Seminole girl, Cusseta, some roping and riding lessons, where Ashel makes a keen discovery. It is not until Ashel comes face to face with a Seminole Indian of the 1800s that Ashel begins to understand others who are from a different culture. When Cusseta is bullied on her first day at Ashel’s school, Ashel thinks quickly about the importance of friendship. The second in a series of Ashel books, “Ashel’s Spring” is also set in the deep south in the 1930s and is filled with issues that students face today.

In this family Christmas tale set in Deep South 1930’s, six-year-old Ashel is intrigued with a cowboy who rides into town.

He quickly makes friends with the cowboy and Ashel’s mother allows him to ride with the cowboy to round up cattle.

In an effort to make Ashel’s Christmas special, the cowboy works on a project late into the night on Christmas Eve. The cowboy finally falls asleep and dreams about that first Christmas in Bethlehem. He comes to the realization that “good tidings of great joy” are meant for people in a very personal way.

This book is filled with cowboy action and tenderness.

KAREN GEORGE AUKEMA GREW up on a ranch in Florida. She received her B.S. degree in Human Sciences at Florida State University and her M.S. degree in Education at Troy State University, in Alabama. She has over a decade of experience as a public school educator/school counselor. She and her husband have five children and live in North Florida.