The Truth About Wind

by Hazel Hutchins, Dusan Petricic (Illustrator), Gail Herbert

Overview

A vividly imagined story about the importance of telling the truth, even if it means losing something you love.

When Jesse finds a toy horse and makes it his very own, his imagination runs wild. This horse is the fastest horse in the whole world, so Jesse names him Wind. He can’t wait to race him across the prairie (the kitchen table) and over deep canyons (the bathtub). There’s just one problem: Wind doesn’t actually belong to Jesse. He was left behind accidentally by his real owners. And though at first Jesse is full of joy as he plays with Wind, soon he starts to feel uneasy—Jesse knows Wind’s real owners must miss him.

But how can Jesse explain to his mother exactly where Wind came from? And is there a way to make everything okay again? The Truth About Wind is a dynamic story about the courage it takes to face up to a lie, brought to life by a trio of celebrated creators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773213897
Publisher:	Annick Press, Limited
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	250
Lexile:	AD660L (what's this?)
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Hazel Hutchins has written over 50 books for children and young adults and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for Mattland (2008). She lives in Canmore, Alberta.

Dušan Petričić’s brilliant illustrations have appeared around the world in newspapers, magazines and award-winning picture books including The Man With the Violin, Mattland, and My Toronto. Dusan lives in Zemun, Serbia.

Gail Herbert’s first collaboration with Hazel Hutchins produced the award-winning picture book, Mattland. Gail lives with her husband near Cambridge, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

2020-01-21
A found toy triggers a crisis of conscience.

While playing in his yard, Jesse accidentally acquires the perfect toy. He spots a black horse tumbling out of a wagon pulled by passers-by. Impulsively, the boy reaches through the fence and grabs it. The shiny, black horse on wheels captures Jesse’s imagination right away. Instantly dubbed “Wind” by the delighted boy, the toy inspires a whole new world of make-believe adventure. Wind by name and wind by nature, the horse races everywhere, “across the tabletop prairie and up and over the rolling cauliflower hills while Jesse ate supper.” The fantasy permits him to swim and dive in the bathtub, to gallop up the slide, and to splash “through puddles at glorious speed.” Jesse lies to his mother, telling her that Grandma gave him the horse. However his conscience starts to trouble him when he sees signs at the library and on the footbridge about a lost horse. He realizes he must do the right thing and return the toy to its rightful owner. Hutchins and Herbert’s text is vivid, specific, and evocative; Petričić’s pencil-and-watercolor illustrations have a fun, cartoonish quality that perfectly suits the story, investing the nominally inanimate toy with a huge personality. Jesse is white; there is diversity in the crowd scenes.

Another child’s toy gained by mischance is a perfect vehicle for gently conveying the importance of honesty. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews