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ECHO

Name: ECHO
Author: Elsie Haversham
ISBN: 978-1497307216

TRUE TALES FROM THE HORSE SHOW WORLD

by Elsie Haversham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 11, 2014

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In this YA novel, a teenage equestrienne tries to rehabilitate an unpredictable horse while dealing with his greedy owner and show-ring politics.
Echo is a beautiful bay warmblood colt born in Germany and brought to America by rich, flamboyant trainer Darla Davidson in hopes of making a big profit by selling him to her wealthiest riding student, Tracy Milton. Darla’s penny-pinching indirectly leads to Echo’s being injured in transit, but this isn’t immediately discovered. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Tuttle, 14, helps out at Haversham Farm, her mother’s horse barn, and works part-time at Darla’s much fancier Bristol Acres. An aspiring equestrienne competitor, Lizzie this year hopes to finish in the top ten in the medals finals. Spoiled rich-girl Tracy, Lizzie’s rival, is at first excited about riding Echo, but he soon earns black marks for dangerous behavior. Thanks to Haversham Farm’s good reputation for rehabilitating horses, Lizzie gets the task of reconditioning Echo (with input from horse professionals). A proper diagnosis and careful physicking, training and affection do much to improve the colt—but when Darla’s greed takes over, Echo’s future is in doubt. In her debut novel, Haversham displays her insider knowledge of the competitive, often unsavory world of equestrian competition. (Tenderhearted readers may find a few passages upsetting, but they reflect reality.) Though not every term is defined (for example, “warmblood”), the technicalities are easy to follow. In the young-person–and-horse genre, the standard narrative is that love and patience overcome all difficulties, and Haversham—though at first seeming to enter fully into this cliché—complicates the ending more realistically, perhaps because Echo is based on a real-life horse. On the downside, Haversham’s characters are overly broad: Darla and Tracy are over-the-top caricatures of the spoiled rich, and the Tuttles simply have no faults; they are poor but happy, humble and hardworking, yet they know how to have fun. More subtlety would help, as would an edit to fix some substandard usage.
Somewhat clichéd but also offers a sober look at the horse world’s dark side while appreciating the beautiful bonds that can arise between horse and trainer.

Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-1497307216

Page Count: 336

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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SPOOKY POOKIE

by Sandra Boynton ; illustrated by Sandra Boynton ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2015

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.

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One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.

It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.

A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)