Colt in the Cave

Animal Ark Hauntings #4

by Ben M. Baglio

During a class trip to an old mine, Mandy Hope thinks she sees a horse underground, and wonders if it was real or a ghost.

Genres: Animals, Horses, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Mystery, Middle Grade

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ben M. Baglio created the brief for two series of children's books - Dolphin Diaries and Animal Ark. Dolphin Diaries features a girl and her family from Florida, who travel around the world as marine biologists and study dolphins. Animal Ark features two children who work together to help animals and solve animal-related mysteries. The books were written by commissioned writers in the UK under Baglio's instruction using the pseudonym Lucy Daniels. Each ghostwriter is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page.

Using his real name he also wrote the book series The Pet Finders Club, featuring a group of three children who search for peoples lost pets.

Reviews

[Rachel Joy-Monet Faulls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lol this was some major Horse Girl behavior but hey, anything to get me through this pregnancy haha

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a copy of this book in the Lending Library. I haven't read any of the Animal Ark Hauntings books before this, but I remember having a few Animal Ark books growing up
Overall, the story was interesting. Without giving too much away, the ending did not come as much of a surprise given that it is a Hauntings book. But I still enjoyed the story and liked how all of the pieces fell into place.
Not going to lie, the best part was everyone trying figure out the Internet. It really brought me back to the days of that awful start up tone and not getting calls while on Yahoo Messenger. Good times.
A cool, quick read with a nice ending.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the American Scholastic paperback edition. The UK edition is different in punctuation and some vocabulary, but the plot and illustrations are the same. It's just weird to me to read a book set in the UK that has Americanisms.

The real author of this goofy little book is Andrea Abbott. She did a decent job with the stupid assignment she was given. If you ever want to know who really wrote an Animal Ark book, or any books in the spin off-series like Animal Ark Hauntings, just look at the dedication page. Whoever is given "special thanks" is the real author.

Whoever green-lighted the notion that Animal Ark needed ghost stories really needs a boot to the head. The series was based on the premise of helping, caring and learning about animals. Ghost animals really don't fit the bill. Granted, I'm not exactly the target market for this book, but COME ON. James' character was the sensible one in the early books of the series. James is not recognizeable in the Animal Ark Hauntings series.

This is a silly book. If you approach it with that attitude, you'll have some fun with it. I like Ann Baum's soft, painterly illustrations. Although the story centers around a ghost pony, there is some interesting information about pit ponies.

[Stephanie Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very fun childhood book that I think held up well over the years. I loved reading all the facts about the pit ponies and how Mandy and James learned all about them and the mines. Although this book is clearly meant for children, I think that the writing style is done very well and makes the story enjoyable even for adults.

[Angela]

This one was my favorite in the Hauntings subseries as a kid. The underground mine setting created a sense of urgency and claustrophobia that gave me some fun chills. Perfect for a kid who couldn't get enough of spooky stories. :)

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandy sees a horse that James can't see.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always interesting titles for the Animal Ark books, at least this book taught me what a Colt was.

[Sammy]

I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.

[Branflakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting

[Rachael King · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very good book. Sometimes when I was reading it I couldn't stop turning the page, because it was one surprise after another.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was more of a recycled plot.