The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar
Written by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
Illustrated by Ted Rad
Reviewed by Esther P. (age 9) & Inesse L. (age 8)
Can you imagine living as the only family on an entire island where your dad is gone for days and weeks at a time? This book is about a girl who lives on Sweetbriar Island. Her family is the only family that lives on this island. She lives with her mom and dad, but her dad works as a fisherman and for the coast guard. He leaves for long periods of time and the little girl and her mama are alone. The little girl misses her father very much and her mama becomes really lonely and sad too. In the summer, the little girl and her mom keep busy picking berries and flowers for the long winter ahead. One winter, it was really cold. Horses came to the little girl's house and the she fed the horses because they were starving to death. She gave them fresh carrots. The little girl became a hero because she saved the life of those wild horses. We like this book because the illustrations are realistic. We think the author uses a lot of strong verbs and other colorful writing that makes the story come alive. We think the author should have used names of characters. We wonder why they chose not to include names. We like the author's style of writing because she subtly lets the reader see the little girl's compassion for horses. We recommend this book to people who care about horses. If you like to read stories that inspire you to help animals or people in need, read this book. This book would be good for people who are eight years old and up.