THE DOLLAR HORSE

With longing, diligence and the ability to weather countless disappointments, 10-year old Keery Jamison goes after his goal and achieves it. A horse is quite a luxury for a poor family living in upper New York State, also a strange desire for a modern ""machine age"" boy. Yet despite the fact that his birthday dollar could not buy him one, Keery was determined to realize his dream. Taking reality in stride, Keery uses the dollar for ten ducklings to delight his younger brother Tommy, and when a summer's earnings are not even enough, he indulges the family in a second hand TV set. Opportunity however knocks at unexpected moments. How could Keery resist the gypsy's offer of a beautiful brown mare in exchange for the ducklings? Yet his own fondness for one of these arouses all his protective instincts and just when he is about to give up, the gypsy shows compassion and his willing to strike a more feasible bargain. Few boys are made of Keery's stuff, yet this fact in no way detracts from the inspirational quality of a very warm and human story, offset lightly by authentic regional flavor and the comic routes Keery often travels to reach his goal.