Children's Books discussion

In September, the PBC will saddle up to read books about horses.

Please vote for the five books you would most like to read with the group by choosing from our official selections (in messages 2-19) and posting in a comment below.

Votes will be accepted until August 25th. Thank you!

While I do like horses, I was never one of those little girls simply wild about horses, so I don't have a lot of books to recommend. Even so, Susan Jeffers and horses go together in my mind. I absolutely loved her My Pony. She has many others, as well.

Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World's Smartest Horse is non-fiction and might even appeal to the 10-year-olds out there. It's one of my favorite picture book biographies and SO very worth reading.

I also really liked Every Cowgirl Needs a Horse.

Finally, Robert the Rose Horse is a classic, and for good reason! :-)

A few others that look good:

The Wild Little Horse

The Gift of the Sacred Dog
or
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
(both beautiful Native American stories by Paul Goble; again, these might suit the older PB crowd)

Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (an early Jan Brett that I've somehow missed!)

Hush, Little Horsie (Jane Yolen + beautiful cover art!)

Cowboy Small (vintage Lois Lenski. I'd love to find a few more picture books about horses featuring boys--most of them seem geared to horse-crazy little girls, which is great, but I'd like more variety)

Mrs. Mack (Patricia Polacco)

There's also a Listopia for Picture Books about Horses here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/5...

I picked up Rosie's Magic Horse when it came out, for Quentin Blake, but I found the story to be weak, not to say simply weird. However, the illustrations are really nice and maybe on their own worth seeking out the book.

Robert the Rose Horse and The Horse in Harry's Room are both readers, but fully illustrated, so I think they could count as picture books. My kid read a lot of the Syd Hoff books when he was gathering miles, his books are so sweet, bit old fashioned but such a huge kid appeal.

I could also recommend The Good-Luck Horse, a Caldecott Honor from 1943. It's illustrated by a child, the youngest Caldecott recipient ever, I think.

And finally I have Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? on my to-read list, for a non fiction book.

The first books that came to my mind were the ones I read over and over again by Marguerite Henry, especially Misty of Chincoteague. But her books are not picture books. I found these though:

A Horse Story: Sami and Thomas meet Pascal

The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War

Wonder Horse: The True Story of the World's Smartest Horse

Fjóla wrote: "Tricia wrote: "I found these though:

A Horse Story: Sami and Thomas meet Pascal ..."

Not to start a controversy, but you may not be aware that the author of the book here above is a MAJOR listopi..."

Interesting note, Fjola. I know nothing about this author, good or bad, but the story sounds like something suitable to children.

Free as the Wind: Saving the Horses of Sable Island (8+)
Out of the Deeps (4+)
The Little Humpbacked Horse: A Russian Tale (8+)
The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale (6+)
Flying Horse: The Story of Pegasus (4+)
Black Diamond and Blake (4+)
Ancient Thunder (4+)
Appaloosa Zebra: A Horse Lover's Alphabet (3+)
Sugaring (3+) (This is mostly about maple syrup, but a pair of wonderful draft horses feature prominently)
Horse (5+)
Running with the Horses (5+)
Where Wild Horses Run (8+)
The Lost and Found Pony (4+)
Leonardo's Horse (8+)
H Is for Horse: An Equestrian (6+)
Pony Island

Please note that I got the age recommendations from Amazon and take no responsibility as to their veracity or lack thereof.

If I Ran the Horse Show (5+)
My Kingdom for a Horse (8+)
My Pony (4+)
Giddy Up! Let's Ride! (2+)

Kathryn wrote: "Thank you both for the nominations!

Fjola, that is too bad about the rogue author-illustrator and his tactics. I can certainly understand your perspective. I also would be unlikely to support his..."

Thanks, Kathryn.

The Girl on the High Diving Horse

One of the favorites at my branch is The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar and I always have a soft spot for Glen Rounds who wrote Once We Had A Horse.

Everything but the Horse is a gorgeous story that made me tear up when I read it. However, it's not really about the horse so much as about the girl and her family, so I'm not sure I want to actually recommend it for one of our 6 choices.

The Crooked Colt!

Fjóla wrote: "Tricia wrote: "I found these though:

A Horse Story: Sami and Thomas meet Pascal ..."

Not to start a controversy, but you may not be aware that the author of the book here above is a MAJOR listopi..."

Thanks so much for the warning!

Lots of good nominations. I am going to add one by one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite illustrators: Hush, Little Horsie.

As a Native American mother, I must nominate The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses . . . It is one that I read to my eldest daughter many times. And one that she loved so much. We both did. It's wonderful.

Thank you all for the votes. What a great list! I would be interested in most of these books.

I'm excited to see two Jean Fritz books on the list (I love her books). I have read some of her books about the Founding Fathers and they are wonderful, though I don't remember the Sam Adams one well. I have read Leonardo's Horse and just want to point out that this is not about a horse as an animal but rather about a work of art. Still fits our theme, in the broad sense of the word, of course, and is a wonderful book about art for the older picture book crowd. I highly recommend it, whether it becomes one of our chosen reads or you try it on your own.

The voting period is now open. Please vote for the five books you would most like to read with the group by choosing from our official selections (in messages 2-19) and posting in a comment below.

Votes will be accepted until August 25th. Thank you!

Hard to choose:

Running with the Horses
Free as the Wind: Saving the Horses of Sable Island
Ancient Thunder
My Kingdom for a Horse
Sugaring

Jeffers / My Pony
Yolen / Hush Little Horsie
McCully / Wonder Horse: the True Story of the World's Smartest Horse
Brett / Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Lester / Running with the Horses

• The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
• Hush, Little Horsie
• The Crooked Colt
• Everything but the Horse
• My Pony

Leonardo's Horse
Once We Had A Horse
The Little Humpbacked Horse: A Russian Tale
The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War
The Gift of the Sacred Dog

I am going to go by which books I expect to have the most beautiful illustrations:


Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Running with the Horses
Mrs. Mack

But also
Everything but the Horse because I'm so fond of Holly Hobbie, and
Rosie's Magic Horse because I'm really curious what other members think of it.

(I'm also a sucker for everything Bill Peet, but unfortunately I was too late to name Cowardly Clyde ...)

Fjóla wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Thank you both for the nominations!

Fjola, that is too bad about the rogue ..."

By the way, I think I'll remove that comment about the "rogue" ...

One, because it may look as if ..."

Very generous of you! I can certainly understand your chagrin when you saw a book listed here by an author that had caused such consternation, but since it was mentioned in good faith I agree it's best to sweep the slate clean. When yours are gone, I'll take down mine, as well. Makes housekeeping more tidy for the future Master List, too! ;-) Thanks.

The votes are in, and here are the books we will read together in September:

Running with the Horses
My Pony
Hush, Little Horsie
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
Everything but the Horse

The other votes were all too split with one vote each to choose a clear sixth/alternate, but each of the Paul Gobel books received a vote, so I'd like to propose that we could read one (or both) of them:
The Gift of the Sacred Dog
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Thanks so much!

This list now becomes the Master List and General Discussion for picture books about horses.

I can vouch for Song Of The Horse. It's a little long, but there are lots of wood-cut pictures and it's a straightforward story. This girl is lucky enough to have a horse, and the art and beautiful lyrical language almost make me envious of her.

For those who might be interested, I wanted to mention another horse book, not in our list above, that is very good:
Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia
Ted and Betsy Lewin, the author/illustrators actually went to Mongolia and witnessed a famous horse race there, capturing the people and the action in their beautiful watercolor paintings. This is a little bit longer picture book, more suitable for elementary age children than for pre-school children.

I'll have to look for that, for sure, tx Beverly!