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The Devil In Ol' Rosie
When Little Davy leaves the gate open and all the horses run free into the Oregon wilderness, young Wart must take charge of the important task of rounding them up quickly and safely as they are his family's only source of income.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 7, 2021
A fine enough children’s adventure book. Set in the early part of the 20th century (based on the fact automobiles and tractors are a new phenomenon) a young boy called Wart is called to take on a man’s task in order to help his father during a family crisis.
John is the oldest son of two, who always seems to be doing something wrong (leaving gates open) letting chickens get killed through his carelessness. He’s not a bad kid, just a kid with a lot of responsibility. His father calls him “Wart” which he hates.
The family relies on their herd of horses for their livelihood so one day, an ornery mare called Ol Rosie takes it in her head to run off into the far pastures, taking the other horses with her. John’s father can’t go with to round the horses up since his wife is giving birth. He makes the difficult decision to send his son out to hopefully rope the two lead horses and with them under control and heading home, the rest will hopefully follow.
John’s mettle and courage is continuously challenged on his errand, and he makes plenty of mistakes along the way. Knowing he can’t return home empty handed, he persevered.
Overall this was ok. I felt the finding the horses part got a bit long and repetitive. It’s set in the past and the way of life of a rancher’s kid is probably pretty foreign to most young readers today. Will they find the unfamiliar setting exciting and unusual? Or will they find themselves bewildered and lose interest?
Personally not my favorite horse adventure.
John is the oldest son of two, who always seems to be doing something wrong (leaving gates open) letting chickens get killed through his carelessness. He’s not a bad kid, just a kid with a lot of responsibility. His father calls him “Wart” which he hates.
The family relies on their herd of horses for their livelihood so one day, an ornery mare called Ol Rosie takes it in her head to run off into the far pastures, taking the other horses with her. John’s father can’t go with to round the horses up since his wife is giving birth. He makes the difficult decision to send his son out to hopefully rope the two lead horses and with them under control and heading home, the rest will hopefully follow.
John’s mettle and courage is continuously challenged on his errand, and he makes plenty of mistakes along the way. Knowing he can’t return home empty handed, he persevered.
Overall this was ok. I felt the finding the horses part got a bit long and repetitive. It’s set in the past and the way of life of a rancher’s kid is probably pretty foreign to most young readers today. Will they find the unfamiliar setting exciting and unusual? Or will they find themselves bewildered and lose interest?
Personally not my favorite horse adventure.
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February 26, 2021dnf Feb 2021
I seldom dnf short children's books, but I'm getting pickier and pickier as my to-read lists grow due to being active here on goodreads. And this earnest historical fiction with a nearly abusive father, a hardscrabble farm, and a Christian basis just isn't working for me. Maybe when I was looking for more like Wilder's Little House books I would have liked it.
I seldom dnf short children's books, but I'm getting pickier and pickier as my to-read lists grow due to being active here on goodreads. And this earnest historical fiction with a nearly abusive father, a hardscrabble farm, and a Christian basis just isn't working for me. Maybe when I was looking for more like Wilder's Little House books I would have liked it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews