My Pony

by Susan Jeffers, Susan Jeffers (Illustrator)

Overview

A beautiful picture book about the magic of horses and the power of imagination by Caldecott Honoree and New York Times bestselling artist Susan Jeffers.

I want a pony.
I want a pony more than anything in the world.

A little girl who longs for a pony draws pictures of a dappled mare she names Silver, then rides her through a magical countryside in her dreams. At the heart of Susan Jeffers's exquisite picture book lies the idea that in her imagination, a child can journey anywhere and do anything—even fly through the stars on her very own pony.

Susan Jeffers effortlessly captures the grace and wonder of horses in this luminous picture book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423112952
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/27/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Susan Jeffers is a New York Times bestselling artist who received a Caldecott Honor for her work on Three Jovial Huntsmen. She is also the illustrator of Margaret Wise Brown's Love Songs of the Little Bear and the best-selling McDuff series by Rosemary Wells. Susan also wrote and illustrated another pony picture book, My Chincoteague Pony.

Editorial Reviews

"Jeffers's own longing for a horse as a youngster—and her childhood love of drawing horses—infuses this tale with a palpable authenticity.... A gentle paean to these awe-inspiring animals and to the power of imagination."—Publishers Weekly

"This quiet, beautifully rendered book will be a good choice for story hours."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Jeffers's (Three Jovial Huntsmen) own longing for a horse as a youngster and her childhood love of drawing horses infuses this tale with a palpable authenticity. "I want a pony. I want a pony more than anything else in the world," the likable young narrator begins. Whenever she asks her parents for one, they respond negatively, so the child creates a horse of her own. "I call her Silver. She has dapples and a shiny coat. When I draw her, it is as if she comes alive," she notes, while a translucent white horse watches over her as she paints. A turn of the page reveals the child soaring out of the window into the night sky on the animal's back. Pastel hues dominate the pleasing palette of Jeffers's artwork, which moves easily between homespun real scenes of the 1950s and incandescent dream sequences. By the shimmering moonlight, the two ride through pine boughs that resemble diamonds into a forest of candy- and carrot-bearing trees. They encounter a herd of other horses, which joins them as they gallop through a mountain stream and "flash like a comet across the sky" before returning home to the girl's drawing table. In a dramatic closing portrait, the horse seems to peer out at readers "Silver waits just outside my window. Always." A gentle paean to these awe-inspiring animals and to the power of imagination. All ages. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-The pigtailed narrator of this enchanting story wants a pony of her own. Her parents tell her that a horse is too expensive and that they don't have enough room, so she draws pictures of a horse. Her art takes her to a magical world where she rides a beautiful, dappled silver horse through forests and clouds. When she returns from her journey, she is happy because her imaginary animal "waits just outside my window. Always." In an author's note, Jeffers tells how her own longing for a horse led her to drawing. The sense of longing permeates the spare text but is softened by the beautiful, pastel watercolor-and-ink artwork. The dreamlike quality of the semitransparent horses and of the fantastic backgrounds is heightened by glossy ivory paper. This is a book that horse lovers will cherish.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal