Horse Diaries #11: Jingle Bells

Horse Diaries #Special Edition

by Catherine Hapka, Ruth Sanderson (Illustrator)

A heartwarming Clydesdale chapter book for the holiday season! For all lovers of horses, history, and the holidays, here’s a very special Horse Diaries book.
 
Wisconsin, 1915. Jingle Bells is a strong Clydesdale gelding. He enjoys his work on the farm, pulling the hay wagon in the summer and a sleigh in the winter, and he loves his human friend, Kari. But when Kari’s older brother comes home for Christmas with a new Model T Ford, will the family still need Jingle Bells?

Genres: Horses, Historical Fiction, Christmas, Middle Grade, Fiction, Animals, Historical

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Catherine (Cathy) Hapka has written more than one hundred books for children and adults, as a ghostwriter for series as well as original titles, including the Romantic Comedies Something Borrowed, The Twelve Date of Christmas, and Love on Cue. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more of a three stars for me for the story, but my children loved it, and I appreciated the beautiful illustrations and back matter with further (albeit brief) information about the Model T, Clydesdale horses (including a how-to-draw section) and Swedish Christmas traditions, so I'll bump it up to four stars. It's a nice story, focusing on the special bond between a girl and her horse. It's a gentle story as historical fiction goes, not much in the way of drama or peril, no one getting sick or injured... the tension lies in the growing schism between horses and "horseless carriages" -- how horses are handling the noisy monsters invading the roadways, how some people are jumping on the motorcar bandwagon while others believe it's just a fad. I appreciate that, while some of the benefits of the Model T are shown, Jingle Bells (the horse) gets his moment to shine and save the day. I would have liked more Christmas-y atmosphere and more details on the Swedish Christmas traditions in the story proper, and it took me a little while to get used to the horse POV (I didn't realize, at first, that the horses don't really understand the human conversations even though they hear them). Still, it was a nice holiday read with a bit of history tossed in, and my eight-year-old and six-year-old both enjoyed it (my youngest rarely enjoys novels for read-alouds so this is high praise from him) and I will look for others in the series.

[tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked the Christmassy feel this book had. tbh Kari is one of the most annoying characters ever and throughout the whole book she was always like, "ohmygod let's take jingle bells!", "i know! we can use jingle bells!" it got so annoying to read. there was barely a plot but i liked the story line and writing style.

[Haley Durfee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas Eve, 1915. Model T Fords are taking over the roads, but one brave Clydesdale named Jingle Bells must save the day.
A cute book perfect for kids who love horses.

Content:
None

Ages 6+

[Katelyn (old soul country girl's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I love this book now just as much as I did when I was a child!
It is a comforting, beautifully illustrated book of things that I love: Clydesdales, Christmas, and the old fashioned way of doing things before technology had its way.
I definitely plan to reread it next Christmas and to hopefully have it in my physical collection again one day!

[Sarah Toton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute holiday horse story

[Emory Ivie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful series that I well-enjoyed during my younger years, and when I was about seven years old it was my ultimate favorite. We all loved the story of Black Beauty, and this series has the same idea - a horse telling its own story during the historical time it lives. There are so many books to read in this series, and though they don't need to be read in order, as each novel presents new characters with new conflicts, but they take place in the order of the historical time. It's really cool for a young kid to be able to read the thoughts of a horse through a fictional book and learn more about the breed it highlights and the history centered around the breed's origin.

These books are absolutely wonderful and very informative. After the entertaining story, there is a little section in the back that teaches about the breed and its uses during a specific time period. They are clean, entertaining, and such a great read for any 7 to 10-year-old child. If you love horses and history, be sure to check out Horse Diaries!

[Brandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the books that I read with my twins at bedtime. Perhaps after just recently reading the classics like Old Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows, I just have higher expectations. This book barely kept my boy's attention (they are 8 years old), and they struggled, and often were unable to stay awake during the nightly reading. There didn't seem to be much of a point to the book, just a lot of filler. We are a horse family and love animals, etc, but this book left us bored and ready to be finished. I'm not sure at all how it has over a 4 star rating. The best part of the whole book was the history given in the epilogue of the Clydesdale breed and the Norwegian customs observed in the book itself.

[Diamondback Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another holiday book I wanted to read in time for Christmas. Jingle is a clydesdale horse who enjoys his life and family. One of his owners' eldest son, Martin, is coming home for christmas from his job, and the mother, Pearl is having a baby sooner or later. There is a dog named Dash who has his own story in the Dog Diaries series. It also teaches us about the time when cars started to take over horses to be used as transportation. After the family got stuck in a snowstorm, Jingle saved the day and they had the best Christmas ever. I read the Dog Diaries Christmas book before, but I think I enjoyed this one better.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

2017 has been the year of the horse in my house. We enjoyed this story about Jingle Bells and the beginning of Ford motor cars. My little girl really liked the story from the horse's POV; we'll definitely look for more Horse Diaries books.

[Gerri Leen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely charming. Hapka is rapidly becoming my favorite of the Horse Diaries authors. The horse in this is so perfectly a draft horse and the relationships are very, very sweet. Lovely. On to the next, which is also by her. Yay!

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

My class did not love it, nor did I. I had high hopes for it and reading it at Christmas time. The book had good ideas but just did not come together. One student even asked when I was finished, "What was that even about?" I could relate.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

See the first book in the series for a full review.

[Stasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEAUTIFUL illustrations!!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute Christmas book about a horse. The story is a bit simple but I was mostly reading it for the cute art inside and the Christmas feels.

[Lily Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so fun to read at Christmastime.
Clydesdales ❤️

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis: "A heartwarming Clydesdale story for the holiday season!

For all lovers of horses, history, and the holidays, here’s a very special Horse Diaries book.

Wisconsin, 1915. Jingle Bells is a strong Clydesdale gelding. He enjoys his work on the farm, pulling the hay wagon in the summer and a sleigh in the winter, and he loves his human friend, Kari. But when Kari’s older brother comes home for Christmas with a new Model T Ford, will the family still need Jingle Bells?"

My Review: This is a nice horse story, something I definitely would have enjoyed in grade school. I loved the horse's point of view of the new automobiles. I thought it was a well written book about that time period, a little fun and a little educational about a very important time in our history. I was at times a little irritated about the fluctuation between the narrator's point of view, the girl's point of view and the horses, it didn't seem to move as smoothly as I would like but it still a great book for young girls, especially for this upcoming Christmas season.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming story about a Wisconsin family, their farm and their Clydesdale horse named Jingle Bells set in the summer-winter of 1915. This story is told from the horses point of view. Jingle bells feels that he is losing his job to the Model T. However Jingle Bells discovers he is still useful on the farm.

As a bonus this title includes an appendix with several hands-on activities including information on Clydesdale Horses, Norwegian Christmas traditions with a recipe and craft project, and Model T Ford and Henry Ford's early automobile industry. You even learn how to draw the horse Jingle Bells from the story.

Series does not need to read in order.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the Model T. Ford it took was in the story

[Bonita Vear · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story! It's told in such a way as to really show off the steadiness that Jingle, the Clydesdale, has. It's nice to have the draft horses appreciated for their stellar qualities!

[Hillvan]

770L

[SFrick]

What I like most about these books, is the pronounced and satisfying interaction between the family and their pets. At times, its hard to tell the difference between the humans and the animals.

[Addy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books in this series.