Boots 'n' Beans
an art book "full of BEANS"

by Boots Reynolds

Nonfiction. 120 pages, 11"x8.5", hardcover with dust jacket, full color
More than 50 illustrations
ISNB 978-1-879628-29-8
$34

A bean recipe book with a big helping of Western humor art

If you thought you knew Boots, you don’t know beans. Celebrated cowboy cartoonist Boots Reynolds hands down a whole heap of recipes for “the food that won the West” in this new art book featuring more than 50 of his humorous Western paintings of the cowboy life. After living as a bronc rider, roper, horse trainer and rodeo clown, Boots rediscovered his youthful talent for drawing and painting in the '70s. He became a featured artist for Leanin’ Tree, which has sold millions of greeting cards with his humorous illustrations. This, his first book, combines the best of his paintings with the “stories behind the art” plus vignettes of the 30-plus Westerners who have provided their original bean recipes – everyone from chuck wagon cooks to governors. Packed with colorful artwork, insightful writing on cowboy lore and tasty recipes, “Boots ‘n’ Beans” is no cookbook. Rather, it’s an “art book full of BEANS.” Reynolds has long been known as a man who’s skilled with a paintbrush and ink pen. But who could have known he’s also a writer of darn funny yarns – and a maestro in the kitchen as well?
Well, two out of three ain’t bad. “This is a book of bean recipes, not a cookbook,” proclaims Boots, whose chief tool in the kitchen is a can opener. Luckily, he gets plenty of help from a couple dozen bona fide Western cooks. For this book he recruited favorite bean dishes from a passel of genuine cowboy chuck wagon cooks, governors from half a dozen Western states, fellow cartoonists, the family of country artist Reba McEntire and First Lady Laura Bush – among others.

But there’s just as much Boots as beans in this book. One of the premier Western humor artists and a featured Leanin’ Tree illustrator for more than 26 years, Boots’ consummate talent is in transforming the routine and mundane of cowboy culture into something hilarious. Combining a couple decades of the best Boots Reynolds artwork, along with the often-hilarious stories behind them, “Boots ‘n’ Beans” is a tip of the ladle to “the food that won the West.”

Praise for “Boots ‘n’ Beans”

Boots possesses one of the great rarities of nature – natural comic vision. He can make you laugh at nothing much – or at something all social restraint cries out against as an object of humor.
–Patrick McManus, Outdoor humor columnist and author

Boots’ wit and skill have delighted Leanin’ Tree customers for over a quarter of a ­century. Just bringing Boots to mind makes me laugh, and now he’s authored this ­delightful book.
–Ed Trumble, Leanin’ Tree founder and chairman 

Beans are always a great topic of conversation for reasons we are all aware of. 
Who better than Boots to tell the story and paint the pictures?
–Jim Zumbo, Outdoor Life hunting editor

About the Artist

Roy “Boots” Reynolds is a cowboy cartoonist whose work has been ­described as “Charlie Russell meets Saturday Night Live.” His artwork has been published in many venues – most notably Leanin’ Tree merchandise – but never in his own art book, until now. 

Born March 28, 1935, at Vinita, Oklahoma’s Eastern State Mental Hospital, Boots was raised an Okie but has lived on a mountainside in Hope, Idaho, for more than 30 years with his wife, Becky. Growing up on ranches and living in many a bunkhouse, he was raised by his father, as his mother was institutionalized with advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Boots draws his inspiration from real-life experiences as a rodeo clown, roper, horse trainer and bronc rider.

A Leanin’ Tree artist for more than 26 years, Reynolds has also illustrated covers of national magazines such as Western Horseman, including one the editors later discovered to ­include a well-disguised naked woman. His originals hang in the Museum of Western Art and have been exhibited at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The Academy of Western Artists named him Cowboy Cartoonist of the Year in 1996. Other honors include the Trumble Family Award, the Western Horseman Award by Cowboy Cartoonists International and the Penny Onstott Memorial Award from the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Artists Association.