Gaston(r) Drills an Offshore Oil Well - Hardcover

by James Rice (Author)

Gaston decides to invest his hard-earned savings in an oil well to help solve the energy problem. The locale, terminology, and techniques described are authentic.

Front Jacket

Praise for James Rice's Night Before Christmas series illustrations:

"Forget Dancer, Prancer, Comet, and Vixen. . . . Good Clement, wherever he is, will not be gnashing his teeth." --New York Times Book Review

"Rice is especially good with facial expressions, whether they are on a Texas jackrabbit, a longhorn steer, a dusty cowboy, or the green and long-nosed alligator named Gaston."
--Library Journal

Intrepid Gaston, the green-nosed alligator, one of the most celebrated characters in modern juvenile literature, embarks on a brand-new adventure--drilling an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana.

Gaston--whose previous quests have taken him on a Christmas Eve flight with St. Nicholas, to a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, on a stint as a cowboy on the Texas range, and to a job as a pipeline roughneck--decides to invest his hard-earned savings in an oil well after learning of the oil business's profitability and receiving a tip from a friendly crab.
As in Gaston's previous adventures, the locale, terminology, and techniques described are authentic. Gaston Drills an Offshore Oil Well gives young people a basic introduction to the problems and procedures involved in producing America's oil.

Widely acclaimed as the South's leading illustrator of juvenile books, James Rice is the illustrator and/or author of over sixty titles with almost two million copies in print. Rice was born on a farm in Coleman County, Texas, and currently resides in Hico, Texas. He has taught art at the grammar-school, high-school, and university levels and enjoys talking to schoolchildren across the country about writing and art.

"Rice's pictures are well drawn, each character is an individual. Even his animals have 'personality'--and the pictures are more than funny, they are witty."
--New Orleans Times-Picayune

"James Rice's imagination is clever and his creation of Gaston the alligator . . . brings joy, smiles, laughter and chuckles all year 'round. . . . The author-illustrator captures the fancy and imagination of children and grown-ups, regardless of age."
--Irving Ward-Steinman

Author Biography

"They say if you can make a living doing what you love then you never have to work. I haven't worked in years."
--James Rice

"Rice is especially good with facial expressions, whether they are on a Texas jackrabbit, a longhorn steer, a dusty cowboy, or the green and long-nosed alligator named Gaston."
--Library Journal

"Rice's detailed pictures are captivating."
--Woman's Day

This outpouring of praise is directed towards James Rice (1934-2004) and the outstanding list of children's books he wrote and illustrated. Widely acclaimed as the South's leading illustrator of juvenile books, Rice lives through the more than 2.5 million books in print that feature his work-a record that ranks him with top children's authors and illustrators nationally.

Cajun Night Before Christmas(R), Rice's first book, has been nationally recognized as a classic in its genre. Rice lent his talents to Pelican Publishing Company's The Night Before Christmas Series, which includes the tremendously popular An Irish Night Before Christmas, Redneck Night Before Christmas, and Gullah Night Before Christmas. It was through Cajun Night Before Christmas(R) that Rice developed the character of Gaston(R) the Green-Nosed Alligator, who went on to have his own series of books. Several of Rice's other sixty books are set in his home state of Texas. Trail Drive is just one that both entertains and teaches children about cowboys and Western life.

Rice was born on a farm in Coleman County, Texas, and resided in Hico, Texas. He graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Texas, a master of fine arts from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a master of arts from Howard Payne University. Rice taught art and music at both high school and college levels at such schools as Southeastern Louisiana State University, Louisiana State University, and Dallas Baptist College. When not working on new books, Rice visited schools throughout the country to teach children the joys of writing and illustrating.