This transitional book was published as part of the Beginner Books series by Random House following the huge success of Dr. Zuess's "The Cat in the Hat." Meant for beginning readers, it's the story of a boy on a horse farm who decides to move up to a bigger horse to prove to himself that he can handle him. This causes his favorite little pony, Little Black, to try and keep up, but can't. One wintry day, the pony runs off. The boy jumps on his bigger horse to bring him back, but they fall through the ice on the river where Little Black has crossed, and the big horse can't get back to him without breaking through the ice again.
Little Black hears the boy's shouting and returns to the river. Due to his smaller size, he can come back out onto the ice and, allowing the boy to grab his tail hair, pulls the boy to the shore & safety.
This is a simple--almost infantile--story about not getting upset about one's size, or lack thereof. A worthy story, but the book shows its age in the illustrations and the story itself. Such that one can't help but appreciate the staying power of books like "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back," which were contemporaries of this book.
Merit: Simple story with good artwork depicting country life.
Share: Read aloud or beginning readers.
Appeal: Young first-reader boys.
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