Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have a Horse
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A classic in the making, this heartwarming story about empathy and imagination is one that families will treasure for years to come.
Adrian Simcox tells anyone who will listen that he has a horse--the best and most beautiful horse anywhere.
But Chloe does NOT believe him. Adrian Simcox lives in a tiny house. Where would he keep a horse? He has holes in his shoes. How would he pay for a horse?
The more Adrian talks about his horse, the angrier Chloe gets. But when she calls him out at school and even complains about him to her mom, Chloe doesn't get the vindication she craves. She gets something far more important.
Written with tenderness and poignancy and gorgeously illustrated, this book will show readers that kindness is always rewarding, understanding is sweeter than judgment, and friendship is the best gift one can give.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chloe scorns the stories that her classmate Adrian Simcox tells about having a horse since she knows they can't be true: "He lives in town like me, and I know you can't have a horse in town." In warm, expressive ink-and-watercolor spreads, Luyken (The Book of Mistakes) paints Adrian, who "gets the free lunch at school," speaking excitedly to rapt schoolmates. Adrian is lying, Chloe announces, and she sees that her words have "made Adrian Simcox really sad," but her resentment persists. Then, while walking their dog, Chloe's mother steers her toward Adrian's neighborhood ("All the houses looked like they might fall down"), and the two children meet in Adrian's garden, where Chloe realizes that, horse or not, Adrian has something rarer: the power of imagination. Newcomer Campbell explores with sensitivity the way Chloe opens her heart to Adrian, but the story's perspective privileged child learns to value less-privileged child may limit readership and group use. Luyken's delicate drawings add welcome depth, culminating in a final scene that makes magic from a tangle of weeds in Adrian's yard. Ages 3 5.
