Wild Horse Annie
Friend of the Mustangs
-
- € 10,99
-
- € 10,99
Beschrijving uitgever
"Wild Horse Annie" was the nickname of Velma Bronn Johnston (1912–77), who loved mustangs all her life. When she saw mustangs being rounded up and killed to make room for ranchers' livestock, she knew she had to speak up. In 1950, she began writing letters to local newspapers and politicians, defending the horses' right to roam free.
Many people told Annie to hush up, but they couldn't stop her. She soon became a voice for mustangs throughout the state of Nevada, speaking on their behalf at town halls and meetings.
But Annie was only one person, and she wanted to do more. So she got children to speak up, too, by having them write letters to Washington, D.C., officials to ask them to save the mustangs. Finally, with the help of her young “pencil brigade,” Annie persuaded Congress to pass nationwide laws protecting wild horses and burros on public land nationwide.
Readers will find inspiration in author Tracey Fern and artist Steven Salerno's portrait of an early animal-rights advocate, who spoke up for what she believed in, and empowered a generation of children to be a voice for the voiceless.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As a girl on her family's Nevada ranch, Velma Bronn Johnston, known as Annie, fell in love with mustangs. That love sustained her through a devastating bout of childhood polio "horses took the pain away, at least for a little while." As an adult and rancher in her own right, she noticed the brutal and inhumane way that wild horses were treated. Her outrage drove her unexpected second career as an animal-rights activist, earned her the nickname "Wild Horse Annie," and, via a children's letter-writing campaign, led to federal laws protecting mustangs. Though the issue of how to share land with wild horses remains controversial, Annie's passion and persistence in the face of long odds resonates. Salerno's illustrations combine loping lines, sketched details, and rubbed textures to conjure the vanished west of the mid-20th century, and they cleverly balance a running mustang herd with letters stampeding from Annie's typewriter. Ages 4 7.
