Little Black, a Pony

As a child I found this book to be everything a book should- one that is well written, beautifully illustrated, and teaches a moral through a bit of suspense and basic values. While the story is about horses, the underlying meaning is about valuing our friends no matter their pomp or standing. Better still, kids will learn everyone has feelings, even animals. This is delightful story that will be read again and again.

This sweet little book tells the story of a little boy and his pony, Little Black. The boy loves his pony, but one day he decides to try and ride a horse named Big Red. Big Red can run faster, jump higher and is in general more exciting to ride than Little Black. But each time Big Red is chosen over Little Black, Little Black gets sadder and sadder, until he runs away one winter morning. The boy rides Big Red to try and get his pony, and ends up trying to cross a frozen river. The ice breaks under Big Red and the two fall. Big Red manages to escape to the bank, but cannot save the boy. Little Black finally finds something he can do that Big Red can't, and saves the boy's life. The little boy then pledges to ride only Little Black from now on, and the book ends. The story is told form the little boy's point of view. It flows very well; with only one or two spots I would have phrased something differently. The author also tends to use short sentences; "Then I saw something on the bank. Something in the trees! It was Little Black. He saw me in the water." The illustrations in this book are wonderful. Everything -the horses and people- is very expressive. You can see the sadness in Little Black when the boy doesn't ride him. You can see the boy's fear when he is in the river. You can see Little Black's pride in saving him. All these emotions are portrayed beautifully. The pictures are not very detailed, but they are shaded wonderfully. The illustrator must have been very knowledgeable about horses as well, as these horses look alive. It is a great book with a sweet plot, great pictures and flowing words. Loggie-log-log-log

I have this book called "Little Black, A Pony" & Walter Farley wrote this book & he is the author of a book called The Black Stallion series which was The Black Stallion & The Black Stallion Returns & others.The illustrations in this book are illustrated by James Schucker & this is Beginner Books A division of Random House & the cover has a picture of a boy feeding Little Black an apple & the kid feeding Little Black has a red sweater & a white shirt on.When the kid trys Big Red his friends stopped to look at him & he goes by Little Black but didn't look at him.When he jumps Big Red, they go by Little Black & his head was down & he was very sad.The part where his leg got stuck in the tree, the kid pulls his leg out.When the kid rides Big Red on the ice, he goes to get Little Black who was running away & tried the ice but, the ice couldn't hold Big Red & Crack! Splash! down the kid went into the cold water. So then, the kid holds onto Little Black's tail & the ice held the two of them & Little Black saved him.So one night all of his friend come to see Little Black.They were all happy as him."Little Black," he says, "there is no horse like you. You are the best of all! And I will ride you only from now on."This is a great book & I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It was my favorite!!!!!!!!!!!!!The pictures reminded me of Baddeck & other places!!!!!!!!!!!!!They help me go on vacations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This was joyful & I loved it!!!!!!!!!!1

One thing I remember most about being a child was my favorite story, Little Black, a Pony. My mother read it to me so many times that the binding fell off and the pages had to be stapled back in. When we eventually had to part with the book, she told me about how her mother also read it to her when she was little and how much she wished she could find another copy but the book was out of print. I now have children of my own, and wish that this book would be reprinted so i can share with them one of my favorite childhood memories. PLEASE REPRINT THIS CLASSIC STORY!

I made my family read this book to me so often that I had memorized it by the time I was three years old. Literally. I could recite it word-for-word. And oh, the illustrations! I loved both of those horses, Little Black and Big Red. This is the sort of book that will help children grow up loving books. It is well written and exciting and and warm. It's never cloying like so many children's books. This is a book that should have never gone out of print. I'd love to read it to my nieces and nephews.