A detailed story for horse lovers that offers real-world knowledge and messages of strength and purpose.
A YA novel about a young woman and her long-lost stallion taking separate journeys toward fulfillment.
This equine adventure, set in the horse countries of Portugal, California, and Australia, is the first of three planned books in the A Tale of Two Horses series. Horse trainer Anna dreams of becoming a cavaleira (a woman “who fights the bulls on horseback”), so she’s heartbroken when her father sells her favorite young Lusitano stallion, Ulme. As Anna embarks on a search for him, Ulme is resold and ill-used in the bullfighting ring, finally ending up in an Australian dressage stable with a friendly barn-mate named Noodles. The story is illustrated by photographs and enlivened by well-crafted crises (a fire, a flooded barn, injuries, and illness) and colorful turns of phrase, such as Noodles’ view of freestyle horse-and-rider choreography: “That’s a lot of harrumph to push around the arena for six minutes.” As Ulme and Anna find their destinies in dressage, the narration shifts among Anna, the two horses, and fellow trainer Erika; other equine and human voices appear along the way. Layne draws from stories of real-life horses for inspiration, offers details of dressage and other horse facts, and highlights the bonds among horses, riders, and trainers—enough to satisfy any horse fan. However, there are a few errors here and there: the word “smite” is used instead of “spite,” a few lines of text repeat, and the pronunciation of the riding term “levade” is given as “la-veed.” The book also presents bullfighting as a noble sport, showing sympathy for “magnificent horses and cavaleiros” but not for the bulls; Layne explains that in this style of bullfighting, “the bull is not harmed,” as it uses Velcro-tipped poles instead of spears. The book includes a glossary, the stories of the real-life Ulme and Noodles, poems, commentary, and a preview of the next volume in the series.
A detailed story for horse lovers that offers real-world knowledge and messages of strength and purpose.Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9969349-1-6
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Noodles Tales Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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