Old Thunder and MS Rainey

This is a charming book by a skilled Southern storyteller. Darrow takes what could be a lightweight folk tale and adds a sophisticated moral that doesn't underestimate its (young) readers. The illustrations nicely compliment the book, adding just the right amount of whimsy.

This was an wonderful story. My child loved the illustrations and the "fiddle-dee" and other repeated phrases throughout the book. It was a long story but flowed very well keeping my child's interest to the very end of the book. She loves the horse named Old Thunder and the tale about how the biscuits were made. We also plan to bake the biscuits from the recipe on the back cover. I recommend this book to anyone with small children with a love of horses and horse stories.