The Gullywasher

Like cowboy stories 'round the campfire, this Southwestern tall tale gleefully turns from fact and gallops away with imagination. While watching a storm, a girl nudges her grandfather to tell of his range-riding days as a young vaquero. From his reminiscence of a ``gullywasher''-a severe thunderstorm whose flooding ruts the land-the grandfather spins a narrative explaining how the rain wrinkled his skin. Prompted by Leticia's questions, Abuelito continues with fantastic accounts of how he got his gray hair, stooped posture and rounded paunch (He ate whole corn kernels with a chaser of ``hot as fire'' chiles. ``They made the corn pop, pop, pop, and my stomach grew, grew, grew''). Rossi's watercolors, with their sunset-after-rain and red-clay-canyon hues, adhere closely to the cozy text. A glossary and pronunciation key help with the dozen or so Spanish words that pepper the narrative for an authentic Southwestern flavor. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)