Today's read... Catch That Pony by S. McMichael

Today's read comes from a series, which centers around a theme so many young readers enjoyed when I was young and still do today—horses and ponies. We do have our own little Shetland on our farm...a little guy, who comes up maybe to my upper-thigh. Anyone who has ponies, knows that those Shetlands can pack attitude. Well, believe it or not, ours doesn't really. Oh, he has a sneaky-bone and has a GPS for opening gates, but he's a sweetheart, otherwise. I'll admit that since the kids are bigger, no one can ride him anymore, but he's also an older fellow at 18 years. But he loves walking with me to our creek and even will let me lay a feed bag or two on his back when I need extra help carrying.

Does my pony run away like the one in today's read seems to? Let's just say that mine has a HUGE weakness for apples and sweet grain. 

CATCH THAT PONY

Happenstance Farms

by X. McMichael

Illustrated by Justo Borrero

When young Sophia is introduced to her new pony, Piper, things don’t go as smoothly as planned. Could it be that Sophia isn’t the only one who is nervous about new things?

Sophia and her best friend Savanna are at the barn when the trainer, Miss Ellen, presents Sophia with her new pony, Piper. But when Piper pins her ears back and snorts, Sophia knows that the pony isn’t happy and is scared. The two need to get to know each other to build trust. Does Sophia have what it takes to rein in her pony and gain Piper’s trust?

GOODREADS   /    AMAZON

MY TIDBITS

Excitement, frustration, and patience mark these pages in a way, which will have young readers wanting a pony to call their own.

Sophia has a new pony, and she can't wait to spend time with it, but the pony isn't nearly as friendly as she'd hoped. It's scared and doesn't trust Sophia one little bit. Somehow, Sophia is going to have to figure out how to become friends with the pony.

This is a sweet, adorable story, which runs along a simple plot...and that works well. The story centers around patience and realizing that trust takes time, especially when a horse (or even people) are new and don't know anyone else. There's also a nice friendship between Sophia and her best friend, which adds a lovely back-drop to Sophia's forming friendship with her pony. Plus, the two girls are simply a lot of fun.

The illustrations are bright and well done. They bring the scenes to life and make it easy for non-readers to follow the story along on their own by flipping through the pages. 

Horse and pony lovers will enjoy this one quite a bit and get a taste of life on a farm as well as a warming sense of friendship.