Narrowing down to my top ten middle-grade books is always the hardest of all! Some of these books are younger than others, as always, because age ranges are hard to define. A few of these would be borderline chapter books; a few would be borderline young adult.The Racehorse Who Wouldn't GallopWriter: Clare BaldingIllustrator: Tony RossPublisher: Penguin UKAs a child, I loved the Animal Ark series so much that I longed to be a vet. When I learned that studying medicine involved cutting things up, I balked. Yet, animals were special to me, and I would go as far as to say that they are special to most children.The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop is a charming story of love for animals. It is a tale of friendship and grit: friendship among animals, people, and animals and people. Once more, it is a story that explores the idea that children can do … [Read more...]
The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop
Ooh! That's Polly! Let me wave out to her!Oops. I'm at an auction and I just ended up buying a horse for a thousand pounds.No, I'm not quoting, but this is the lovely premise of a heart-warming story of a racehorse who refuses to gallop.Ten-year-old Charlie Bass loves horses, but she has only ever ridden a cow on her farm. When she accidentally bids for a racehorse that her father must now buy, Charlie is determined to make the purchase of Noble Warrior the best decision ever, even if it means additional expenses on Folly Farm for a while. Charlie ropes her brothers Harry and Larry in and, as a team, they begin to train Noble Warrior, aka Noddy, to become the next winner of the Derby.The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop is a story about friendship - between a horse and a palomino pony, and among the humans in the story. Most of all, though, more than all the … [Read more...]