Three Little Horses

by Piet Worm

Once upon a time three little horses, Blackie, Brownie, and Whitey, grazed together in a meadow full of lovely thick grass. Wherever one went, the other two followed. One day they met an artist named Peter, who was so happy to have met them. "We shall have good times together, you'll see," he told the three little horses.

These dear and unforgettable characters, first introduced in 1958, are back in this sparkling new edition faithfully reproduced from the original story. Both boys and girls alike will enjoy sharing in their adventures.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

61 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Petrus Johannes Franciscus Maria Worm

Reviews

[Crackerberries Crackerberries]

I saw this book gazing through vintage book collections and remembered it as a child. When I asked my mother about our copy she said that it had been destroyed in a flood. I was lucky to find a copy on Amazon and it arrived yesterday. The copy looks identical to the one my sister and I shared as a child. She loved the Veronica side of the book. (It has two stories in one). I could only vaguely remember the story, I think I loved the pictures more than the story. As I read through the pages, I remembered the story and tears rolled down my cheeks as I read about them being thrown in prison.

Of course it's a happy ending, although I still feel a little sad for Peter.

[Judy]

It's been about ten years since we read this book, so I told my niece we needed to read it again and think about our Goodreads comments. We both realized that we remembered the illustrations better than we did the story. The picture of the ponies wearing their thinking caps -- a silk top hat, a straw hat with flowers, and a white clown hat -- put smiles on our faces, and we continued to chuckle to the very end. She gave the book 4 stars.

Absurd humor in the style of the '40s and '50s.

[Sara]

Sweet.

[Rena]

I just reread this book for the first time since I was little.... ahhh! Such great memories and such a great book!!

[Samantha Gronberg]

Let me preface this review by saying this was quite literally one of my favorite childhood books, to the point where I named the stuffed dog that I slept with on a night basis Brownie. That being said my original copy was lost to the bowels of time. Today while rummaging through a free little library I happened to find an old copy and suffice to say I was down right delighted. I took it home and almost immediately curled up and read it cover to cover. All I can say is what the actual heck did I just read? In a very brief summary, three horses befriend a man who originally was hiding in a tree costume in order to meet them. He then shows them the town off in the distance and the horses decide they want to visit that town as soon as possible. Unfortunately there’s a butcher who sells horse meat in the town and their new buddy Peter doesn’t want them to be butchered. He decides the best option would be to dress the horses up as princesses (with quite literally the most uncanny valley masks). The mayor meets them in town and throws a parade for them only to find out the real princesses are actually home with a cold. He then throws the horses and Peter in jail because of impersonating royalty?? The princesses come the next day, berate the mayor for imprisoning the horses and pretty much call him an idiot for thinking three literal horses were actually human princesses. They then free the horses and Peter and decide to adopt the horses. The end. Not entirely sure why this was one of my favorite childhood books of all time but damn was it a flashback I wasn’t expecting to relive any time soon. Definitely dated but overall some great colorful illustrations and an interesting story horse meat and all.

[Jennifer Ritchie]

This is a sweet little book with charming pictures. It reminds me of the Curious George books a little bit—it’s about the same reading level, with illustrations of a somewhat similar style, and a story involving animals befriended by humans getting in and out of scrapes. It’s not as good as Curious George, but still fun, and likely to be enjoyed by children (perhaps especially girls) as a read-aloud.

[Kelli Smith]

I enjoyed the book and its humor. However, it was a bit predictable for my liking.

[Melana]

Kinda scary.

[Kat]

I have the original from my childhood and adored the drawings - this is such a beautiful book, but I was also fascinated by the author's name. As a child just learning to read, this name just enchanted me, but beyond the worm and the strange Piet - pie and then a t, were his illustrations for this cunningly illustrated book. I searched for a long time for a replacement of this book because my lovely Virgo mother, in a fit of cleaning before moving from Mt. Lebanon to Florida, threw out so much or gave it away or let the house brownies take it, but my girl scout badges, a tiny teaset, and ALL my Disneykins, yes ALL my Disneykins went the way of the wind. This book disappeared along with the rest and Ebay eventually was one of the portals to begin replacing favorite this and that item. She even threw out my troll horse with apricot colored hair. The picture in the book that enchanted me was of two horses dressed up in beautiful gowns with masquerade masks upon their faces. I stared at that picture forever and absorbed the adventures of Whitey, Blackie and Brownie, the horses. What little girl wouldn't be enchanted by the princess horses. This is one of those ageless books that just continue to work their magic on a new generation. I am sure a library carries this title, but any used bookseller can find one! A must have!

[Jennifer Heise]

I read this as a child-- at my grandmother's house, more than once. The pictures are still charming. But I always found it somewhat distressing, as the artist friend encourages the little horses to run off to visit the town, gets them princess costumes to avoid them being bothered (he thinks of the sign in the butcher shop about "we sell horsemeat here") and lets them get caught up in people thinking they are the real princesses scheduled to visit the town. The result is a sad come down which does end happily for the three little horses and the princesses, but not for Piet-- as a result, my childhood self thought he was some sort of con man...
I won't read it to my five year old because I think he might be as disturbed by those plot points as I was... but I will never forget the pictures of Blackie, Whitie, and Brownie, both as themselves and dressed up as princesses!

[E]

I remember enjoying this story for its imaginative plot twists and bright illustrations - ponies dressed up as queens, a man hiding inside a tree trunk. Reading it now, it strikes me as rather bizarre and having a choppy narrative. I'll have to see what my students think.

[Kass]

This book was one of my favorites as a child - I must have read it 100 times. (I wish that I knew where my grammie's copy was, I loved sitting and listening to her read it to me!) As an adult, many people find it weird - but it's a great one.

[Alyse]

My grandmother had this book in her bookshelf, we would often read it and read it again. The art is a tad strange but it reminds me of the puppets from The Sound of Music. It's a sweet story with a sweet ending.

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Loved this as a child.
Maybe some of my beginning love for fantasy.

[Dennis]

Read this over and over when I was young. A different type of story.

[Jan]

I finally found it! I've been looking for this book since I've had a computer! I remember it as one of my favorite books from about the age of 2 or 3. Love this book!

[Christopher]

A deeply strange, but oddly warm childhood memory revisited.

[Windy ODonnell]

I had this book as a child and loved it,I'm glad its back in print.