Two Horses and a Liar

I remember the first time I watched the "Black Stallion". Oh, how I loved Alec--and even more than that, how much he loved that horse. Hey, it will never be said that I wasn't a sucker for animal stories. This past week I read the "Black Stallion" by Walter Farley. It is an amazing book. It's not a Newbery winner or honor, but I needed some horse reference books for work and I hadn't ever read the book. Honestly, I'm surprised that it isn't in the Newbery family. I would absolutely recommend this book as a family read-aloud. I can't wait to read it to my kids. They are still a bit young to understand, but I think that they will both love it. In the meantime, I may go check out the movie from the library. I could use a little Mickey Rooney this week.

In complete contrast to "The Black," is "Black Beauty". Anna Sewell quite possibly may be the first animal rights author. Hey, I'm no fan of animal abuse, but this book almost killed me to finish. I reached the three-quarter mark and I really had to make a tough call about whether or not I had the endurance to even finish the book. I put my head down and powered through, but it was not a pleasant experience. As a general rule, the anthropomorphism of animals doesn't get to me, but this book was written entirely from "Beauty's" perspective and I just couldn't engage with the lifeless accounting. I will also mention that Sewell was a MAJOR proponent of prohibition at the time of her writing and so basically if you even smell liquor you will begin to "beat a horse swiftly about the head"-- makes me tired just thinking about this book.

And last, but not least, Lily's Crossing. I am a huge fan of the author. This is probably my least favorite of her works, but it is a Newbery winner and therefore, is obviously well-written. This book has a great moral of the story type of feel to it. It's also a good read for kids who struggle with honesty or who have a hard time seeing the effects of their seemingly innocent actions.