Smoky the Cow Horse

by Will James

Smoky knows only one way of life: freedom. Living on the open range, he is free to go where he wants and do what he wants. And being a smart colt, he learns what he must in order to survive. He can beat any enemy whether it be a rattlesnake or a hungry wolf. He is as much a part of the Wild West as it is of him, and Smokey can't imagine anything else.

But then he comes across a new enemy, one that walks on two legs and makes funny sounds. Smoky can't beat this enemy like he has all the others. But does he really want to beat it? Or could giving up some of his freedom mean getting something else in return that's even more valuable?

Genres: Horses, Fiction, Animals, Childrens, Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Westerns

324 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Will James (1892-1942), artist and writer of the American West, was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault. It was during his creative years everyone grew to know him as Will James. During the next several years, he drifted, worked at several jobs, was briefly jailed for cattle rustling, served in the army, and began selling his sketches and in 1922 sold his first writing, Bucking Horse Riders. The sale of several books followed.

An artist and author of books about the American west and, in particular, horses, Will James wrote the 1926 book "Smoky the Cowhorse". It was awarded the John Newbery Medal in 1927, and remains in print to this day. Several movie adaptations of the story have been created, including a 1933 version that included Will James himself as the narrator.

His fictionalized autobiography, Lone Cowboy, was written in 1930. He also wrote Home Ranch (1935) and he wrote his last book, The American Cowboy, in 1942. In all, he wrote and illustrated 23 books.

In 1991, Will James was named a member of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Benji Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I woke up to a beautiful morning. It was a stereotypical beautiful morning. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was nice and cool. We’re in the middle of an pleasant Alabama spring, which lasts for like two weeks before the scorching heat sets in, and makes everything miserable until November. By far, though, the most beautiful part about waking up this morning, was that, as of last night, I was no longer in the middle of Smoky the Cow Horse.

I’m finished! Through! I feel like a newly released prisoner, stepping out into freedom for the first time in years.

I know it sounds like I’m being dramatic, over-exaggerating a little, but I really don’t feel like I am. I disliked this book that much.

The first 1/3 of the book was tolerable. I kind of liked seeing Smoky in the wild, it was a tad boring maybe, but it still had potential to maybe pull out a three star rating from me. I didn’t hate it in the beginning.

Aesthetically, the second third of the book drove me crazy. The author was obviously stretching the story out as far as he could take it. He told us the same things over and over again, then he would give a little anecdote to illustrate the point, and then he would make the point again, almost like the “In conclusion” part of a 10th grade research paper. Smokey was ornery towards other people. He only liked Clint. I figger that’s cuz Clint was nice to him. One day another man tried to ride him, and Smoky bucked him. Smoky only liked Clint. He was ornery towards other people. It goes like that for many, many maddening pages.

By the last third of the book, I was pretty much over it. Any other book, I would have abandoned by this point, but I want to read through the Newbery winners, so I had to keep going. (It felt much like The Dark Frigate all over again) I was tempted to just skim, but I stayed strong and slogged my way through. James was still boring me and saying the same things over and over again, but I didn’t have any real strong content objections to the book, just aesthetic ones.

Then, all of a sudden, Will James got all racist on me. I read a few reviews of the book before I started it, and I didn’t see any mention of this, so it really shocked me. It comes out of nowhere, you feel like you’re getting to the end, you’re gonna make it, and then BAM! Will James jumps out and makes his boring redundant book, a racist, boring, redundant book. I’ll just let you see for yourself.

There’s this guy stalking a bunch of horses. Smoky is in the group, and the guy’s going to steal the horses. The narrator, stops to describe the guy. “A half-breed of Mexican and other blood thats darker…he was a halfbreed from the bad side, not caring and with no pride.”

It kind of slapped me in the face. What did he just say?

The narrator doesn’t call this character a man any more after this. From then on, he calls him “halfbreed” sometimes, but usually just breed for short. The breed beat Smoky with a stick. The breed tried to sell him etc.

I kept on reading. This “breed” is a pretty mean guy with no redeeming qualities. It struck me that James didn’t even do that with the horses. There are good horses and bully horses in the book, but the narrator is sympathetic to them all. The bullies have reasons to be mean. The “breed” is only bad because of his skin color. It seemed to me that James believed that people with dark skin were worth less than horses.

A little while after I thought this, the narrator pretty much goes and says the same thing himself.

He calls the guy a “scrub of a degenerate halfbreed and not fit to be classed among humans.”

There’s another scene later in the book. Smoky has become a cart-pulling horse, and a man of a dark complexion is beating Smoky with a whip. (It would seem from reading this book that white people didn’t beat horses. Everyone else did.) Clint takes the whip and starts beating the guy. The sheriff sees him, and tells him in a joking manner (the book says he’s grinning as he says it) “Say Cowboy…don’t scatter that hombre’s remains too much, you know we got to keep record of that kind the same as if it were a white man, and I don’t want to be looking all over the streets to find out who he was.”

I’ll just let that speak for itself.

I read some reviews from other Newbery travelers, and they couldn’t get past the western language and intentional misspelling in the book. I didn’t have a problem with that, at all. It fits the tone of the book, and even seems a little poetic at times. The other issues I had with the book totally eclipse that.

I know that I’m looking at things through a 2014 lens, but how did this blatant racism not make people uncomfortable, even in 1926? I know that it was a different time and people saw things (and each other) differently, so I accept that this book was publishable in 1926 (It definitely wouldn’t be now) but the Newbery? A committee of educated librarians thought that this was the best book of that year for kids? If I ever heard my son calling someone a halfbreed, well, let’s just say there would be very extreme consequences.

I read somewhere that there are only two children’s books that would have been eligible for the 1927 Newbery still in print. Smoky and the 8th Dr. Dolittle book. (Smoky wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for that medal) A lot of the good children’s books from this time were coming out over seas. such as Winnie the Pooh, but come on. Pick something else, anything else, in which the narrator doesn’t demean a group of people, and treat them as if they are worth less than horses. I know the eight Dr. Dolittle book probably wasn’t the best of the series, but is it racist? No? Ok, let’s give it the medal.

This is the first time I’ve said this, but the 1927 Newbery committee let us down. Big time. The more I think about this the more upset I get. I’ve even thought about weeding this book from my library. The only thing making me hesitate is that shiny gold medal on the front. But to be honest, Smoky the Cow Horse has kind of taken some of the luster off of the Newbery for me. I need to keep reading them, to get that specialness back. They can’t get much worse than this one, right?

Next up: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This here book is about Smoky. Smoky was a mouse-colored horse, all colored like a mouse and bucking.

The winter come, all wintery and wintered, and the mouse-colored Smoky, all mouse-colored in the wintery winter, bucked and bucked. "That there horse bucks some," says Clint, "I seen some bucking in my days, and this one bucks." And the winter wintered some more, the ground all groundy and brown, perfect for horses the color of mouses if mouse-colored horses bucked.

And one day yonder, the ground all grounded and the winter becoming spring, the bucking mouse-colored horse bucked and bucked until winter come again and the ground beneath that horse the color of a mouse was all groundy and brown.

"Shit, that horse can buck," says Clint, all squinty and cowboy-ey, as mouse-colored Smoky bucked and bucked and, while bucking, bucked his buck until he couldn't buck no more. The winter had come, all wintery, and Smoky bucked until spring. "Goddamn, that horse the color of a mouse can buck."

Another winter wintered and the ground was all ground-y and there was a mesa and some geldings and colts on that grounded ground, all wintery until the spring came. No geldings or colts bucked like Smoky, though, and that bucking came at a price. Spring had come at last, and there was bucking to be bucked. "That there Smoky is a good, mouse-colored cowhorse, all bucking and horsey and colored like a mouse," Clint crowed, all crowlike.

The winter, all wintery, wintered back and then it was time for spring. Smoky, mouse-colored and colored a bit like a mouse, bucked a buck or two or three or seventy and then the ground was all brown and ground-y while Smoky bucked until bucking was out-bucked. "That's a fine bucking horse there."

JESUS GOD IN HEAVEN

Well, folks. With Smoky the Cowhorse, I have finished my Newbery quest. All 100 medal winners have been read, and this repetitive shitstack just so happens to be the capstone of my yearslong quest. It was a terrible way to end the journey, but most every book from the 1920s and 1930s has been godawful.

Frankly, if Smoky had just been the last 100 pages (minus the appalling racism shoehorned in for no good reason except to be appallingly racist), the book would have been dull but tolerable with flashes of occasional interest. Alas, those final 100 page were not worth the 220 pages that came before it.

But I did it. I read this bucking book.

I did it so you didn't have to, fellow children's lit fans. Fellow Newbery completionists.

It's been real, Newbery winners.

Mostly real boring, but real all the same.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So glad I'm finally done with this book.

The written-in-dialect thing is interesting, and occasionally even poetic, and I might have thought this was a fairly good book if it was really, really short. But 300+ pages of double negatives and other grammar mistakes was hard to wade through.

As others have said, it does get more interesting in the last 100 pages (there's a story), but it's still not that great; and there's a dreadful racial stereotype (evil "halfbreed" Mexican/African American, always referred to as "the halfbreed" or "the breed") that I can't really write off as being "the times", because it's so pointed and vile. Others have said it's sexist, but I don't agree about that--the one female character is a well-meaning "horse girl", and I thought she was depicted with surprising insight and sympathy.

I shudder to think what parents and teachers would say if a book with such bad grammar was awarded a Newbery today.

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that Will James won the 1927 Newbery Award for his 1926 children’s novel Smoky, the Cow Horse and I certainly do very much appreciate the many (and to and for me generally positive and wonderful) similarities to one of my personal horse-stories favourites, I do very much find continuous reading pleasure in how much of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty is contained (general thematics wise) within the pages of Smoky, the Cow Horse (how both Black Beauty and Smoky follow similar life paths, how they experience both joy and sorrow, both understanding and cruelty and indeed, how at the end of their thematically similar struggles, Black Beauty and Smoky are each of them reunited with their former owners/trainers and have come full circle so to speak and into a life of ease and happiness). And of course, it is also cheering to see how both Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Will James' Smoky, the Cow Horse always and totally seem to capture their horse protagonists' respective personalities and perspectives, although that in Black Beauty, Anna Sewell achieves this by having Black Beauty narrate his own story in autobiographical style (in the first person), whereas in Smoky, the Cow Horse, Will James uses third person narration and detailed but immediate descriptiveness.

However, it is also and precisely Will James' third person narrative writing that I have found a bit uncomfortable and unfortunate at times. And no, I do not actually think that in Smoky, the Cow Horse Smoky should be like Black Beauty telling his own first person story, but rather that I really do wish Will James would not use non standard vernacular (with grammar mistakes, cowboy vocabulary and sometimes even instances of strange syntax) in oh so many of his descriptions. For while the author's cowboy-style colloquial dialect certainly does with immediacy and intensiveness portray the so-called Wild West where Smoky was born and then matured, if I consider Smoky, the Cow Horse linguistically and with regard to logical language usage, for me, vernacular is basically meant to be a sign of spoken, of oral language and therefore, I would really prefer it if in Smoky, the Cow Horse Will James would not make use of cowboy speech whilst describing scenes in the third person, if he were to restrict himself to using colloquial and non standard language for narration in the second person, for conversations, for people talking with and to one another.

But even with me not altogether enjoying Will James' tendency to use vernacular for third person descriptions in Smoky, the Cow Horse (and indeed only because I do rather strongly believe that the latter should really only be used in writing to present conversational speech), I have still for the most part quite massively enjoyed my reading time and experience with Smoky, the Cow Horse. And yes, I would also and gladly have been granting a four star ranking to Smoky, the Cow Horse, had there not been some rather problematic to and for me issues with blatant racism and bigotry, with Will James not only showing in Smoky, the Cow Horse a pretty clear disdain of and animosity towards individuals with darker skinned complexions, but that yes, in the episode where Smoky is stolen, the horse-thief's description as a basically good for nothing simply because of his mixed race ethnicity, this is truly so vehemently full of bile and anger that one can and should at least in my opinion only consider that Will James must obviously have actively despised anyone of mixed race ethnicity, since yes, just labelling this aspect of Smoky, the Cow Horse as a so-called sign of the times, of the 1920s, it just does not go far enough and really cannot be either dismissed or made light of.

And while I would in fact generally not hesitate to recommend Smoky, the Cow Horse as potential reading material to and for older children above the age of ten or eleven, I do this only with the caveat that in particular the episode with the horse-thief and Will James' more than likely personal bigotry regarding individuals who are of mixed race really do need to be discussed and that in fact, Smoky, the Cow Horse should probably only be read by children if their parents, their caregivers, their teachers are indeed both willing and able to discuss these not so stellar and not so comfortable aspects of this otherwise generally oh so moving and readable novel.

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 12 and it left a very lasting impression on me. At one point in my life about 15 years ago I was in a book group and I said this book was one of my favorites. My friends, under the influence of wine, laughed. I was mortified. Later, one of them who is a really GREAT friend bought me an original copy from an antique store - which I treasure. There is actually a Will James Society in Montana, so I think I am not crazy when I say that this book contributed greatly to my childhood development of EMPATHY. Only Glenn Beck thinks empathy is a bad word. If you haven't read this book, I recommend reading it to your children, ages 10 and above because it is sad. But, like The Yearling, it is a classic. I re-read it to my own children in 1995 when I was going through emotional upheaval related to thyroid issues and because of that and I would end up crying while I read. Don't do this.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winner of the 1927 Newbery Medal, this children's novel about a mouse-colored cow-horse named Smoky has been favorably compared to that classic (and pioneering) pony story, Black Beauty , and I think the pairing is rather apt. Both books follow the same basic narrative trajectory, beginning with a horse whose owners are responsible and kind, following him through his early years of prosperity and well-being, his traumatic middle years, suffering at the hands of less enlightened human beings, and his eventual reunion, as a broken-down older horse, with his original keeper/companion. Both books do an excellent job of capturing the horse's perspective, and both offer a moving portrait of their equine heroes and the humans they encounter.

Of course, Smoky, The Cow Horse is set in the ranching country of the western United States, in the early years of the twentieth century, and Black Beauty in nineteenth-century England. While Black Beauty is a saddle-horse (to begin with, anyway), Smoky spends his first few years in the wild, before being broken as a working horse. And my, how beautifully James captures that early time in Smoky's life, the dynamics of the wild horse herd, the instincts of a young colt! The writing here is highly idiomatic - a sort of western/cowboy dialect that, while not "correct" English, has a poetic and highly descriptive quality to it. Many readers seem to have had trouble with James' language, but I found that, after a period of adjustment, it really resonated with me, and added to the beauty of the story.

There are many things I enjoyed about this book, from the language to the characters, and I will not soon forget the understated pathos of the love that develops between Smoky and Clint, the cowboy who breaks the high-spirited horse in, and becomes his only human friend. The mistreatment that Smoky suffers, after being stolen by a brutal horse thief, and eventually turned into a rodeo attraction, was very difficult to read about, and even the happy ending, with its reunion of horse and man, can't quite take away its sting. The illustrations - done by James himself - are absolutely delightful, although I found myself wishing that I had an older edition, rather than this 1970s reprint, so I could see them as color plates, rather than black and white reproductions.

In short, this was in many ways an excellent book, and had it not been for one thing, I might have awarded it four stars. And that "thing," is the racism to be found in the portrait of "the breed" - the mixed-race horse thief who steals Smoky. The constant references to his dark face/complexion, the way this is tied to his brutal treatment of Smoky, seems too pointed (to borrow a friend's word for it) to be dismissed as simply "of the times." Especially when one considers that the inhumane vegetable seller who ends up owning Smoky (Cloudy by then) towards the end of the story, is also described as dark-skinned. When James describes the horse thief as "a degenerate halfbreed and not fit to be classed amongst humans," it's a difficult thing to overlook.

Thankfully, the section involving the horse-thief (I refuse to call him "the breed!") is short. But although I wouldn't say it was the focus of the story, the racism is pronounced enough that it is a real detraction from the book's appeal. This is one I would recommend only to more mature horse-book lovers, who are old enough to have a discussion about the unfortunate racism to be found within its covers, either with a parent or a teacher.

[Beth Cato · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was on a convention panel talking about horse books last weekend, and author Will James came up. I remembered that I owned a library discard of his classic book Smoky, that I probably haven't read since I was 9 or 10. Before I bought this discard copy, even. I needed to read a classic book for my goal this month, so I decided to read this one for the first time in decades.

Oooooh boy. How to sum this up.

First of all, there's no way this would be a kid book these days. All the major human characters are adults. There is rampant animal abuse, even by the 'good guy.' And wow, is this book racist. Jaw-droppingly so. The major villain is described as "being a breed of Mexican and other blood that's darker" and is often just named as "the breed," and is so abusive to the titular character that the horse straight-out tries to kill every man with dark skin for years afterward.

Yeah.

The thing is, the first 2/3 of the book is actually a decent horse book, complete with beautiful action-packed illustrations by the author. James is an incredibly descriptive writer, and the chapters on Smoky's colthood on the range and his training (which is cringe-worthy in some ways) and growing relationship with Clint is fascinating in its deep detail. But then Smoky is stolen, and the book decides to go "Black Beauty on a western-grimdark" route.

The good news is, I feel like I can now donate-away this hardcover book that I've been hauling around for over twenty years. I definitely won't be reading it again, nor do I feel much inclined to pick up Will James's other books.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book in the fifth grade (oh, so long ago...) and I loved it. I re-read it every year until I graduated high school and loved it every time. I'm not sure I'd still love it quite so much if I was reading it for the first time as an adult, as I haven't read it since, but I look on it with fond memories.

If you have a horse crazy son or daughter, I would definitely add this book to their library, right next to The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague and My Friend Flicka. Although you might want to have a parent-y talk with them about racism, as the references to 'the half-breed'--the major villain of the book--obviously are very racist.

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this was quite the story and it made me cry too! Sometimes these stories do that and I get all emotional. Smoky sure had an eventful life and I must say this book had headed into places I had never expected. I guess it might be to show what a horse's life can be like and that everyone has different ideas about horses & what they are good for.

Parts of this book reminded me of some of the things I had read about in "Wolf Willow" recently. You have cowboys out on huge areas of land rustling up cows. And Smoky is there with the cowboy he trusts, Clint. And Clint is the only one who can ride Smoky too as that horse is wild! But he is very smart too. And he actually enjoys doing his job, catching those white faced cows as it makes him feel very useful and it's something he's very good at. The majority of this story is from Smoky's viewpoint. And Smoky has a heart and a wide range of emotions. He goes through a lot.

The story draws you in right away from the start with the birth of Smoky. And he is such a curious little colt. Brave too and even a bit foolish. The story moves along at a good pace and many events happen...a few were shocking! There was at least one awful character I had hated (two actually but one was far worse than the other). This will make your emotions surge and for awhile there I was very uncertain how it would end: good or bad. I knew what I had hoped might happen but you can never be certain can you? I also feel the story points out a few good things that equestrians need to remember: that the horse is a living creature and its not there just to ride for pleasure. It needs rest and decent food too. Plus it's a herd animal.

And while I had greatly enjoyed reading this - I will admit there are a few things in here that I don't understand. Like why do they keep calling Smoky a gelding? As far as I know the only procedure he had done was a branding of the ranch's logo on his hide so shouldn't he have turned into a stallion? But they were calling him a gelding since he was practically a colt!

The other thing that confused me is the way they raised horses & cattle in this story. They just let huge herds of them run wild over great hunks of land and then go rustle them up at certain times of year. Do they still do this today? I admit I have no idea! But its so very different from the ranches that I am familiar with here in the Midwest. Of course this was written back in 1925 so things were very different...but it just is so odd to me! What is to stop their animals from running away? And just now...looking at that date of 1925 - I just realized this story is almost 100 years old!

And yes, there is lots of wild bronco action in here as the cover suggests. But the story is really about the heart of a horse and his emotions through a long, difficult life.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There was so much life wrapped up in that pony's hide that it was mighty hard for him to settle down and behave...he sometimes had to bust out and do things that wasn't at all proper..."

—Smoky the Cowhorse, P.47

"The poor (horse) had sure got a reason to be mean, and I guess he's at the point where he figgers no human is his friend any more." —Smoky the Cowhorse, P. 229

Wow. My expectations for a book with the Newbery Medal on the cover are always sky high, but Smoky the Cowhorse meets those expectations and more. The plot is built with tremendous skill, and the laid-back cowboy narration and Will James's illustrations fit the narrative perfectly. The story fills me with every emotion possible, resounding throughout its 310 pages as few books do. I am lucky to have read Smoky the Cowhorse.

"For that pony had got tangled up in the cowboy's heartstrings a heap more than that cowboy wanted to let on, even to himself. He couldn't get away from how he missed him."

—Smoky the Cowhorse, P. 216

[b.andherbooks]

a favorite book of my former horse girl youth. I still own this paperback edition. Can't say how it holds up, but formative.

[Phil J · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I wrote this book on only one horse and when I first started it I was afraid I'd run out of something to write, but I wasn't half thru when I begin to realize I had to do some squeezing to get the things in I wanted, and when I come to the last chapter was when I seen how if I spent my life writing on the horse alone and lived to be a hundred I'd only said maybe half of what I feel ought to be said."
-Will James, in the introduction

That sentence (go check- it's a single sentence!) should tell you exactly what you're in for. Will James as A LOT to say about horses, and he's in no hurry to get the story moving. The writing style is made of long, rambling sentences like the one above and peppered with '20s cowboy jargon.

Here's what you're in for if you read this book:

Pages 1-6 are an incredibly detailed description of a horse learning how to walk.
Pages 1-60 are a plotless description of wild horse living on the range.
Pages 80-190 concern the relationship between the horse and cowboy and the life of a cow horse. It was more interesting and there was sort of a plot.
Page 190-310 concern the misadventures of the horse after it gets separated from the cowboy. The horse encounters a lot of abuse and misery. This was the most compelling part of the book, although it was also the most depressing.

S.E. Hinton is a fan of this book. I'm guessing it's partly because of the horses and partly because of the parts about Smoky's changing heart when he gets abused.

A lot of people comment on the racism. It's there. I was mostly able to ignore it, except the part where a sheriff stands by and watches a "dark" man get whipped in the middle of the street. Really, though, no child is likely to encounter this book in 2021, so I'm not as alarmed as I might be with a more popular book.

This book is recommended for people who are into horses and have already read all the Marguerite Henry books or for Newbery completists.

[Charlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to my little girl (who is now 26) when she was in the elementary(first learning to read).
It's a good horse book telling the life of Smoky and that part I think is what fascinates children.How he starts off shy and timid.But when he's moved to the working ranch He toughens up gets stronger.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making my way through the Newberry winners' list and I really didn't want to read this one. It looked very outside of my interest zone. But surprisingly, I found it well written and much more engaging than I had expected.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I fought my way to the end but this came very close to being DNF. It is one of the best examples I can give for a book having outlived its utility. It was obvious to me that this book was going the same path as the old classic, Black Beauty. Good childhood, loved and treated well, turn in life till practically dead, then a final end of good again. Except that Black Beauty was well bred and Smoky was a wild horse.
The parts of the book dealing with the horse was good but the “bad guy” was just plain racist. Clearly the baddie couldn’t be an American so it was made into a “half breed” Mexican. Disgusting! It wouldn’t have changed the book one bit, and an editor today would have had the author remove it. Unfortunately the author just had to repeat the phrasing one or two more times.
By that time I had wasted enough time that I was determined to finish it. But all the interest was gone. I read everything but I was really relieved when I finished! This book is ok in that it showed how to train a horse without killing its spirit but I can’t think of another use for this book. While I’m not saying the book should be banned, I would tend to make it a ref book and hand out only if specifically asked. I would rather read Black Beauty again and hand that out. The Marguerite Henry books cover the same sort of horse material. If the author was alive and I were his editor, I’d try to get just a few words changed to make it fit our times.
But with the racism in there and how darn BORING this book was, I just cannot recommend this at all! 1927 Newbery

[Eleni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a cow horse named smokey (it's written with western slang so you feel like your part of the book. This story starts in Colorado, and slowly makes it's way down to New Mexico. It all starts with an adventurous colt named smokey. He is part of a loving herd along with his mom. He gets in a lot of trouble, such as sticking his nose (witch nearly gets scratched up) by a wolf and having his mom save him.

Later in the book Smokey gets rounded up in a corral. The bronc buster chooses him out of the herd. The bronc buster (Clint) tames smokey so well that when Clint passed out on a morning run Smokey carried him back to the ranch! The two become very good friends, and have a bond that no other rider could ever have with a horse. To find out more read the book , I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

[- The Polybrary - · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. The writing style is absolutely horrible. I think the author is trying to imitate in writing what he believes to be an Old West accent and mannerisms. In narrative style. It's insulting, even to young readers. I am completely flummoxed as to how this book, in a world that already had classics like Little Women, with beautiful prose, could have chosen this for any type of award, ever. I'll keep it just to have a complete (one day) collection of the Newbery awards, but would never, ever recommend it for any child to read. I couldn't even get through it as an adult, it felt like a total waste of my time.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written almost 100 years ago and the pacing differs from what we've come to expect. It took a little longer than usual to get into the story, but once we became familiar with Smoky, we were hooked. (I read this aloud with one of my nieces.)

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. Some of the older Newbery winners (like this one) always leave me wondering “Were there really no better books written for kids??”

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are what set this edition apart. Front cover pasteboard, front and back endsheets, and 6 more color full page plates throughout the text. The first reproductions of James' oils. His art makes all the difference. http://www.cdaartauction.com/consign/... His story isn't bad either; sort of standard Black Beauty West but for a kid's book it's all good stuff. I started out by reading animal stories; I loved them and this 'Smoky' is as good as it gets.

But then there was this jolt at page 257: "Say cowboy," he finally says, "don't scatter that hombre's remains too much; you know we got to keep record of that kind the same as if it was a white man..." Pretty much an accepted view circa 1926. Maybe even could be considered progressive for the period of our shameful history. The worst of it is; that attitude is still to this day way too prevalent. The Bad Guys (there are several) are both of dark complexion. White Hat; Black Hat; ethics for the simple-minded.

It's a shame he drank himself to an early grave. His art and writing both suffered as the alcohol took over his life.

When I was a little kid; Cowboy was King. I seem to be going through a spell of obsessing on the life and works of Will James. First edition copies of his books are a tad expensive. Just can't see buying a modern reproduction. I want the feel of those ninety-some years.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so very glad to finally have this book finished. Back during my horse book fetish of my early teens, I may have enjoyed this a bit. It does have a very slow beginning, spending the first 150 pages on just repetitive trips across the range. Unfortunately, not recommended for racism throughout the second half of the book. I was expecting racism against Native Americans, but, it's actually Mexicans that get the brunt of the racism in this book. You can be treated to the word halfbreed on about every other page and a rant from the sheriff about having to treat 'halfbreeds' as it they were white.

The entire book is written in cowboy slang which feels so over the top that it lacks an authentic feel.

I can understand why this would have been popular at some point, who doesn't love a western horse story? I used to adore them. However, I would say this one has seen its' day.

Now, if this was edited and abridged I would say it could be enjoyable. The front half is too long and the back half too racist. But, it would only take a few changes throughout to be enjoyable for modern children.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm so sorry if I'm ruining other people's childhood memories, but I really hated this book. It was just so slow moving. We go from the perspective of Smoky the horse. He is born as a free range horse, but when he is young, he gets rounded up and branded. Then he is again turned loose to roam free until he is about four. At that time, Clint, one of the ranch hands, scoops him up and breaks him to the saddle.

He then goes on a series of cowboy adventures which I won't go into. But it's all told in very tedious detail. Such tedious detail. I kept drifting away - thinking about shopping, chores, etcetera, it was just so slow. I do like animal books, but this one could not hold my attention.

[Joell · Rating 4 out of 5]

How I missed this book as a horse book loving kid, I will never know. The vernacular in the book is charming and meant to be accessible. Perhaps it's a good invitation to help young readers and writers to find their voice. The horsemanship is quite wonderful in that the author changes the name of the horse throughout his life as a reflection of how the horse feels in his heart and his relation to humans. He does it artfully to be sure. I only have one major issue with the story - and I'm tempted to chalk it up to the time it was written but it should be pointed out to young readers that the "bad guys" in the story are all dark skinned and the "good guys" look like an ad for cigarettes.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

3-stars for the story. It was sweet.

1-star for the writing. There were many grammatical errors and instances of overt racism.

[Mariam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was hard to get through. I liked the ending.

[Rebecca Russavage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still sick

[Barb Middleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Newbery winner from the 1920s starts out from the point of view of a young colt growing up. The problem is it grows up too fast and the story is more for adultsthan kids. The wrangling descriptions were interesting at first but got repetitive later in the story. The last third had a one dimensional stereotyped “halfbreed” villain. A forgettable story.

[Anna Smithberger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I definitely remember reading this book before (well before I had goodreads) and liking it fine. Trying to read it again, I hated it. It was boring, the dialect bugged me, and I am not a horse girl. Oh god, I am so sorry for disagreeing with Kaia about how horrible this book was!

[Jeffrey E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves two Newberry medals. At first I was distracted by the cowboy slang. However, soon enough, the story got going and that concern was gone. The author clearly had a great admiration for horses. Wonderfully written. Descriptions like these can only be born out of years of careful observation. Highly recommended!

[Helen]

DNF. I started on it for my Newbery completion goal,but it was horribly slow and not very interesting. I’ll come back to it some other time.