Gift Horse

Be careful what you wish for: when a real horse arrives on the front lawn, one boy faces the messy chores of suburban stable life.

Matt soon learns that his dreams of having his own horse are not as grand as they seem, after his great-uncle sends him a horse and Matt is forced to be responsible for its care and maintenance in a suburban community.

Instead of galloping off like a storybook cowboy, Matt finds himself hauling water buckets from the bathtub and shoveling manure into a garden cart. With his friend Jerry, he fixes up a stall in the carriage house for Loki, a sturdy Norwegian Fjord horse.

When the spirited horse invents games like kicking plastic pails and picking pockets for marshmallows, Matt scrambles to keep him fed and exercised before the neighbors and town zoning catch on.
Sibling Dynamics: Older brother Alan starts out defending his half of the bedroom, but soon steps up as the master strategist directing backyard crowds and protecting Matt’s secret.Small Town Community: Plympton Street neighbors pitch in with dress-up props and cupcakes.Funny Animal Stories: From crunching the straw brim off a visitor’s fancy hat to sporting cornstarch zebra stripes as an extinct quagga, Loki keeps everyone on their toes.Also by This Author: Away to Me, Moss, and The Banished.