Horse Crazy 1: The Silver Horse Switch

I think that young girls will love this book because the two girls who are best friends in the story are so delightful. It is a very different book in that the setting is rural Australia and there a lot of horses in Currawong Creek. And when two look-alike horses, one a brumby and one a farm horse, decide they want to switch identities, the book moves along at lightning pace over the resultant adventures and misadventures. The book is sectioned into short chapters; the illustrations are rustic and homespun, perfectly complimentary to the charming story. Don't get me wrong, boys will like this book too, as the horses are really neat. And I have to admit, I shed a tear or two at the book's ending it was just so touching. I'm looking forward to reading other books in the series. With pleasure!

This looks like a great book for kids. I'm going to give it too my 6yr old granddaughter to read. I think she will enjoy it.

Sam and Bon are two lucky little girls. They live in Currawong Creek, a town full of horses they can fuss over and ride any time they want. There's even a herd of wild horses, called brumbies living in the mountains nearby. What Sam really wants is a horse of her own. But when her dad's friend gives them a horse named Drover, Sam quickly learns she's not the horse for her. Then one morning they notice that Drover is not the anxious, unfriendly horse she used to be. What happened during the night that caused such a miraculous change in Drover? This is the first book in the Horse Crazy series. Set in Australia, "The Silver Horse Switch" gives young readers a taste of rural life down under along with an engaging story about a spunky brumby with a mind of her own. Roland Harvey's watercolor illustrations are charming and the map at the beginning is a great way for newcomers to learn their way around town. Young readers will go crazy over this appealing new series.

Lovely little story for 7-8 year olds. Every kid (almost) would love to have an animal pet and for such kids, a loving, good story with horses is great! Story is based on 2 girls living somewhere in Australia in a rural area who love horses. Quite a few varieties of horses are introduced - appaloosa, brumby, quarter horse, skewbald, piebald etc.. (words that I haven't heard since I am not a "horse or animal" person, so I got an opportunity to learn these now!). This book is not exactly a chapter book and should be finished as a single story (the chapters don't run off together nicely). That said, story is nicely narrated and completed, with great illustrations to boot. My child loves this book (and me too!) One thing the author could have done is to expand on the list of new words in the rear of the back cover. Author has already covered australian terms such as brumby but could have added these other horse names and terms (such as appaloosa, skewbald etc...).

The moment she saw the cover of this book my daughter shrieked with excitement and couldn't wait for me to read it to her. The illustrations are beautiful and inspired lots of discussion. It took us several nights of reading because this is a chapter book, but it gave my daughter something to look forward to each night. The chapters are short enough to read right before bedtime - about 10 to 15 minutes. If your child has a love of horses I absolutely recommend Horse Crazy. I'd say it's appropriate for 5-9 years of age.