If You Want to Ride a Horse
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Carson Ellis' Home meets Carter Higgins' Everything You Need for a Treehouse in this poetic, open-ended testament to the power of imagination, through the prism of horses.
In lovely, lyrical fashion, If You Want to Ride a Horse introduces young readers to the joys of owning, riding, and caring for horses. It only starts with imagination—from there, the possibilities are endless.
Beginning with a daydream, our young rider goes from dreaming about a horse, choosing the ideal kind of horse, meeting the horse, cleaning the horse, tacking up in preparation to ride, soothing their horse through a hard moment, triumphantly getting on, and finally riding gloriously off down the beach.
Is it the best dream ever or a dream come true? It hardly matters: Gael Abary’s art makes even the most incredible fantasy feel possible, and award-winning author’s Amy Novesky’s unforgettable language is an ode to the power of dreams and self-belief to change any young child’s life.
The book includes an author’s note, an illustrator’s note, and tantalizing fun facts about horses and horseback riding.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This love letter to horseback riding offers warm encouragement, even to readers who may not have access to horses. Novesky (Girl on a Motorcycle) welcomes those riding only in their imaginations ("All you have to do is close your eyes") or using someone else's gear ("It's okay to borrow"). Gently urging text provides access to treasured insider jargon ("Might she have stockings or socks? Feathered fetlocks?"), simple tips ("Slip him a peppermint"), and clear instruction ("Settle in the saddle, center, spine to spine"). The "you" the narrator addresses is portrayed as a pale-skinned child with a bowl cut, who starts out drawing a horse, then stands uncertainly in a stable doorway, feet turned inward, before growing comfortable with grooming and riding. In addition to naturalistic, close-up views of the animals themselves, mixed-media spreads by Abary (Crow Spirit) employ printmaking-like textures to detail riding clothing, tack, even a diagram of a quick-release knot. In this passionate introduction to riding, the creators make no apologies for being besotted with horses: "What? Is your heart a wild horse, too?/ A secret: the scent of a barn is a balm." Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary.
