Top 5 on Friday

Anne's Top 5 Horsey reads for children.

1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. The only book that Anna ever wrote and the quintessential horsey book for children and adults. It is also one of the first books I ever read that told the story from the point of view of the animal.


2. The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. The story of a boy and his friendship with a wild horse. I loved this series so much growing up that I hunted it down in second hand shops as an adult to relive the passion. The Black Stallion series has also been made into movies which are available at Rodney.


3. Last week Nicky Pellegrino interviewed Amy Brown about her new Kiwi horsey story - the first in a series. Amy cites the Ruby Ferguson "Jill" series that I grew up with as one of her inspirations so on that basis I include her book which comes out shortly - Jade and the Stray.


4. Stacy Gregg (Pony Club Secrets) and Trudy Nicholson (White Cloud Station) both write Kiwi horse books that our readers can relate to.


5. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. Like the Black Stallion, this is one of the few titles that tells the story of a boy and his horse. There aren't as many titles like this (most have girls as their main characters) and this is also another one that has become a movie.

Honourable mentions must go to Phar Lap and National Velvet as well as Bow down Shadrach.

It's cold and wet and muddy outside, so if you need your horse fix once you have checked the covers, waters and feeds, get your horsey fix in print from your local library.