Dancing Brumby

Silver Brumby #9

by Elyne Mitchell

Choopa is a dancer. When he hears the music of the waltz streaming into the cold night air of the high mountains, he dances.Far below, a child's voice 'there's a tiny horse dancing on the pass.' the music grew louder again, and Choopa's blue and white legs and body waltzed above the Snowy River.And so the stories begin of the little blue roan foal with the strange, misshapen legs, who dances like an angel.Dandaloo fears for her little foal's safety, and with Son of Storm, Wingilla and Bri Bri, leads him up into the highest mountains, away from the threat of man. But one man, a man who trained Lippizaner horses at the Spanish riding school, will not give up his search for this unique foal who weaves a spell around all who see him dance.Ages 10+

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Horses, Young Adult, Australia, Adventure

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1995

About the author

Elyne Mitchell is an Australian author best known for her Silver Brumby children's series, which tells the story of brumbies that roamed the Snowy Mountains in the Australian Alps, in particular a pale brumby named Thowra.

In 1988, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to literature, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Charts Sturt University in 1993.

Reviews

[Lone Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ‘dancing brumby’ is Choopa, a dwarf brumby stallion who likes to prance when he hears music, and whom humans want to capture for this reason. I found this book mildly entertaining, but it was much less enjoyable than the author’s Silver Brumby series. I recommend reading those instead.

[Mya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A bit different from the rest but better for me than some of the other later books in the series (far less vague and repetitive). A cute story and the new elements worked well.

[Christine Meunier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little story in the Silver Brumby tradition by Elyne Mitchell. I remember reading the Silver Brumby books many years ago, hiring them from my local library and devouring the world creating in the Snowy Mountains. I was surprised to find, after buying this copy today, that I only own two other in the series and don't even have a copy of the Silver Brumby itself! I was certain I did, but I can't find it.

My only complaint would be that not much actually happens in this story, and I imagine kids would get bored. It was such a quick read for me that I didn't actually have time to get bored, but there you go. I do recommend the series for kids/young adults though, they're beautiful books. The old TV show wasn't half bad either.

[Alice. Alice. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhm..
I started reading this a few years ago, and stopped in the middle, the bookmark hasn't moved since..
Its not the best dudes =/
Nice cover art, but jeez, the amount of old english that woman uses is INSANE.
And she uses "queer" like all the time..
"the tree was queer"
Wtf?!
Lol..
There are a few nice elements to the book though..
I should probably finish it :L

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choopa is absolutely adorable! He makes a great, albeit unlikely hero for the brumby stories after most of the earlier characters have faded away, leaving only a memory of their greatness. Although this is nowhere near as good as Mitchell's earliest brumby books, it's certainly better than some of the others.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, but nothing much happens until right near the end.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was soooo good! It made me cry at the end, it wasn't exactly sad, just emotional and happy.