Horse Tales - Hardcover

June Crebbin was a school teacher for more than 30 years before deciding to concentrate on her writing full-time. She lives in Leicestershire. Inga Moore has written and illustrated numerous children's picture books. She lives in Gloucestershire.

Gr. 4-7. Crebbin, an English writer, offers a collection of stories about horses, including selections from novels as well as a few tales from mythology and folklore. The quality of the writing is quite good, though the 14 pieces vary widely in tone and level of sophistication. British and American writers represented include Crebbin, Peter Dickinson, Marguerite Henry, Alison Lester, Michael Morpurgo, K. M. Peyton, and Anna Sewell. Moore contributes an ink drawing at the heading of each selection and many large, beautiful illustrations in watercolor, pencil, and ink. Crebbin provides a brief introduction to each selection, but no source notes, which would have been useful for the folklore. For example, the story from Caron Lee Cohen's The Mud Pony: A Traditional Skidi Pawnee Tale, here called simply "The Mud Pony," is described in the one-line introduction as a "traditional Native American tale." With fine paper, spacious design, and distinctive artwork, this handsome collection will find its audience. Recommended for larger collections and those in "horse country." Carolyn Phelan
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