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non-twaddle horse books?
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My 6 YO loves Pony Pal books, which are definitely twaddle. I’d like to find some better horse books for her to read that aren’t too advanced. She reads at around a 4th grade level. She’s in the middle of the Misty books but at her reading pace she’ll be done with them very soon! Any suggestions?
Marguerite Henry has many horse books:
http://www.horseworldwide.com/pages/page22.html
The Black Stallion and the Island Stallion by Walter Farley are good.
It would be below her reading level, but I think she’s like it anyway. Three Dollar Mule by Robert Bulla was a favorite of my kids.
It’s hard to go wrong with anything written by Marguerite Henry! Check her Amazon author page for more titles, I just saw a couple there I missed reading as a kid. King of the Wind and Justin Morgan Had a Horse are wonderful. She wrote so many truly great horse books and many are based on real horses or real events.
Here are some picture books for the younger crowd:
A Field of Horses (Peter Hansard) The best book with basic horse care info for littles without being boring.
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses (Jan Brett) sweet story about who you are being more important than your appearance.
Black Beauty (Adapted by Sharon Lerner, illustrated by Susan Jeffers) I’m saving Black Beauty to read aloud in when my own horse-crazy 4 yo is ready for the richer language. But she loves this picture book tremendously!
My Chincoteague Pony (Susan Jeffers) Since she is ready Misty rignt now, she would probably like it. It’s the story of a girl who saves her money to buy her own pony from the pony-penning days. If my memory serves me correctly there is a letter from Susan Jeffers to Marguerite Henry included at the beginning. Susan Jeffers also did My Pony, based on her childhood. Even if it’s only for the pictures they are nice because Susan Jeffer’s horses are lovely.
Billy & Blaze series (CW Anderson) He also wrote some others such as,The Blind Connemera, but I’m not familiar with his other books, I’ve only read the Billy and Blaze ones. If she’s reading Misty she’s past the reading level in Billy & Blaze, but I thought I’d list them anyway.
Star of the Wild Horse Canyon and Take Care of Dexter (Clyde Robert Bulla) haven’t read these yet, but he’s a good author, and they are on my book wishlist.
While I read Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series as a girl, I think some were better than others. Houseofchaos mentioned the two I liked the best. Also, I don’t know how many people know about it, but Water Farley wrote an outstanding book about Man O’ War.
Of course, don’t miss Black Beauty (this edition has nice artwork) and go for an unabridged verison when she’s ready. I own 3 copies of Black Beauty including my grandpa’s from his boyhood days!
The Blind Colt (Glen Rounds) there are wolves in the story, I *think* it ends okay, but might be one for when she’s older.
The Summer Pony (Jean Slaughter Doty) not nearly as good as Margurite Henry, but better than the Saddle Club type books!
Also look at the Kate Seredy books when she’s older, the Chestry Oak is AMAZING it’s really about WWII but it has horses as a part of the story. There was just a thread here about it recently. I haven’t read The Good Master or any of her other books yet.
Also, if your family decides to pursue horseback riding, the United States Pony Club Basics for Beginners Level D by Susan Harris (book one in a series) a very read-able “how to” manual about horsemanship. Wether or not she chooses to ride English, there is a lot of valuable information about safety and horse care here. I happen to have the older edition haven’t seen the second one yet. But imagine it’s good. My old copy of The Usbourne Guide to Riding & Pony Care has lots of drawings, the newer edition might have photos. (I used to read horse care books for fun). I also just saw, Cherry Hill’s Horse Care for Kids on Amazon, I’ve not read it, since it was published after I quit teaching riding and had kids of my own, but it looks like it might also be helpful.
Off to finish getting ready for an upcoming garage sale, it was fun looking at all my childhood horse books and on Amazon for ones I missed reading as a girl. Hope my long-winded list helps!
My daughter has read all of the above, including all of the Phantom Stallion books. She also enjoyed a 3 book series, Gabriel’s Horses.
Christie – did your daughter read Cherry Hill’s horse care book? Is it as complete as the ones by Susan Harris and Pony Club? I could only see so much in the Amazon preview.
I didn’t realize Marguerite Henry had written so many horse books. Thanks for the lists–I’ll see if the library has any of them. I don’t think she’s ready for the Black Stallion books yet. Actually I don’t think she’s quite ready for Misty but she’s reading it anyway.
Must resist bidding on a really cheap lot with a ton of Pony Pal books on eBay…must resist.
Morgrace, yes Hope has the Cherry Hill book. I’m not sure if she has the others. I’ll ask and report back.
Here’s a link to the Cherry Hill in the meantime.
Thanks for the post, my dd loves all horse books. It’s not easy to find good stories about horse. Thank you.
I’m not sure how much of a repeat of titles from above there is, but you could check out Beautiful Feet’s horse study:
http://bfbooks.com/History-of-the-Horse-Pack
We have a very charming paperback short chapter book called Polly’s Oats by Marc Simont, original copyright 1951, revised 1994. I guess it is oop since it is $50 used and $600 new on Amazon. You might find it at your library. Or, at those kind of prices, I’m willing to sell mine, lol!
Hi,
As another mother of a horse-lovin’ girl, I found a few more if her favorites on our shelves that weren’t mentioned yet.
C.W. Anderson (author of Billy and Blaze books) has written several other books I consider above the reading level of Billy and Blaze but not quite at that of Black Beauty. We’ve read and enjoyed both of these short chapter books:
Marguerite Henry wrote a longer picture book called The Little Fellow that your daughter would probably enjoy.
Also, if she really got into Misty, there is a book called A Pictorial Life Story of Misty, also by Henry, that has hundreds of real photos of Misty and her different owners. Your daughter can find out what happened to the real Misty after she came to be owned by Marguerite Henry.
~Anna
I just went back and realized that The Blind Connemara WAS already listed…. Oops! Oh well, another recommendation for it, I guess. 🙂
~Anna
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