Cinders

Horse Diaries #Special Edition

by Kate Klimo, Ruth Sanderson (Illustrations)

In this Horse Diaries–meets–Dog Diaries Special Crossover Edition, a horse with a bad reputation meets his match in a no-nonsense fire dog and the biggest, hottest flames Chicago has ever seen!   In the 1800s, firefighters needed horses to pull the fire trucks. But horses spook easily and run away from fire—so they needed fire dogs.   Cinders is a dappled gray horse with a bad reputation. When he first arrives at the firehouse, he refuses to even enter his stall. But a kind man, his daughter, and a smart dalmatian named Sparky convince him he’s made to be a firehouse horse. Will he learn to brave the flames in time to stand up to the biggest, fiercest, most frightening fire the city has ever faced?   Get the dog’s side of the story! Read Dog Diaries Special Sparky.

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

181 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 26, 2016

About the author

Kate Klimo spent her early years amidst the cornfields of Iowa where the winters were prodigious. Often, when the snows flash-thawed in the spring, she would find her backyard filled with the flapping, resurrected bodies of fish her ice-fishing father had stored in the snowdrifts. Thus sprang into her young head the unshakable notion that, all winter long, fish escaped from the rivers and magically swum through the snow banks of Mount Vernon, Iowa.

When she moved to the little town of Sea Cliff, on Long Island Sound, she met her best friend Justine in the Stenson Memorial Library at the main desk, where they often checked out the same fantasy writers. Together, they read C.S. Lewis, E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and George MacDonald and embarked on a tireless search for portals to magical worlds, extending from abandoned Victorian mansions to the decrepit local five-and-dime to the sandy cliffs sweeping down to the Sound.

With her propensity for magical thinking and long-standing love of fantasy, does it come as any surprise that Kate grew up to be in the book business? But after over 25 years of heading up Random House Children’s Books, with the publication of The Dragon in the Sock Drawer in March 2008, Kate began to ease over to the author’s side of the desk.

Now a full-time author, in addition to numerous one-off titles, she has written the middle-grade series The Dragon Keepers series and the Dog Diaries as well the Centauriad for young adults. Under the pen name Bonnie Worth, she has penned over a dozen books in the best-selling Cat in the Hat Learning Library. She lives in New Paltz, New York with her husband and two horses.

Reviews

[Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little glimpse into history through the experience of an imagined horse, smaller chapters and larger font so great for younger readers 7-10. I read this aloud to my boys who are 5 & 7 and they loved it, after their big sisters had read read the whole series for years and loved it. Lovely illustrations in black/gray/white as well.

[AetherDragons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been reading these books since I was 10 and I’m so happy I found that book 10 wasn’t the end!!! The whole series is a simple idea that ignites into a fun page turner in EVERY book, and Cinder is just as great!!!!! I figured out the this particular time in history is during the massive Chicago fire of the 1870s!!! Ugh loved this book so much!!!!!

[Jessica]

The book Cinders is about a gray horse that lives on a farm with her original owners. One day the wife of Zeke, the farmer dies suddenly. Zeke sells Cinders to Old Man Muller. While coming home from the market with Muller, they get lost amidst the snow. They finally arrive home and Muller falls right on the ground. His sons and wife try to get Cinders to move but Cinders ends up stepping on and killing him. Cinders is called Man-Killer form then on until he gets adopted and taken the Second Chance farms. The farmers there train Cinders to become a fire horse. The firemen teach Cinders how to do her new job. After a while Cinders faces one of the worst fires the city has ever had.

I thought this book was pretty good. I would recommend this book to anyone who knows how to read because I thought it was pretty easy. It was pretty interesting but not great.

[Gerri Leen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting crossover with the Dog Diaries. This covered a lot of ground and wasn't as emotionally laden for me as some of the others, but still a very enjoyable and informative read. And that finishes off the Horse Diaries for me until the new one is released. Great ride!

[Yukon · Rating 5 out of 5]

the little ones named me although I was born black they were betting that I would become as silvery gray as my dams and sure enghou I did and so I was called cinders my earleats memories of the little ones were slipping through the fence borders into are paddle lock



that is page one

[Heather Herring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me only a day to finish, very good and easy read. It was interesting to learn about horses working in such an industry and why Dalmatians were needed to help. Cinder's story reminds me a lot of Black Beauty's and it was a nice fun read.

[Chloe Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!!!

[Deranged · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book that follows the point of view of a horse. A very fun book and gives factual information at the end in the appendix.

[MaryAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if the Second Chance Farm is hiring.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good chapter book. Interesting & educational, exactly what I like for my kids to read. I learned several new things about the part horses & dogs played in firehouses before motorized firetrucks.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Ev Rennich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet, easy read with a BlackBeauty storyline.

[Noelani · Rating 4 out of 5]

11 year old loves the horse diaries series.

[Lily Scarlet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Horse Diaries book. I remember it being kind of sad.

[Diamondback Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I was obsessed with border collies earlier this month, I felt like I needed to read a horse story. I read this book as an Ebook on my IPad with my Apple Books account. This book is a joint story with another book entitled “Dog Diaries: Sparky” which I have already read. It’s got that same cast of characters and some of the words you might read are the exact same as the other book. Cinders’ Story starts out good but then it starts to have those same depressing vibes as Sparky’s Story. If you are interested in reading sequel stories, I would recommend both books.

Update: When I read it again, this time as a borrowed copy from the library, just like Sparky’s, Cinder’s story isn’t as depressing as before. It actually kind of fun following both of their journeys.

[Teagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a good book and its about a horse called cinders who is named the man killer after axedently stepping on the old who owned her she then becomes a fire horse who gets stranded in a fire and a dog " Khan" found her Khan was a dog that followed all the fires this story is based off the Chicargo firs in 1800's.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Z and I finished this tonight and enjoyed it better than its companion book, Sparky. I would definitely suggest reading them as a pair, though.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book because of the special crossover edition with dog diaries.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this book

[SFrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "Cinders" in conjunction with Kate Klimo's book called Sparky (Dog Diaries #9). Both of which are what is considered a cross-over. I learned much about the Chicago fire.
While she chose two different illustrators for these books, namely Tim Jessell and Ruth Sanderson, the illustrations are really good as are the individual stories.