Horse lovers, take heed.

Hi, I'm Beth, and I'm a librarian. But I started out as a lover of horses! I shall always be a lover of horses and books!

Growing up, my book shelf was home to all of the Walter Farley “stallion” books- Black and Island; Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty and Marguerite Henry’s books- Misty was my favorite- maybe because as a child I got to go to Chincoteague Island and take part in Pony Penning Day.

The horses in my life had names like Why Wait, Oh Daddy, On Easy Street, Sandstorm, and Tar Baby not Flame, The Black, Merrylegs or Beauty. I recall how they were often woven into my daydreams- Alec and the Black and me and On Easy Street galloping along a deserted beach near my home. While watching Why Wait, Sandstorm and Tar Baby grazing nose to nose in the pasture, I was reminded of passages from Black Beauty.

If you are a lover of horses and of books you, too, might enjoy…

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
This story comes “straight from the horse’s mouth!” Joey, the horse, recounts his life story- the idyllic days as a beloved pet on an English farm, the horrifying events he endured as a cavalry horse during World War I and the heartwarming reunion with his first master.
This story reminds me of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty.

A Blue for Beware by Jessie Haas
In this sequel to Beware the Mare, Lily and Beware are ready to put themselves to the test- entering a show for the first time. Lily wonders if all her hard work will be rewarded , "can I keep Beware in check around other horses, will she take the jumps or refuse?” Young readers will be cheering Lily and Beware as they prove themselves inside the show ring.

My Kingdom for a Horse : an anthology of poems about horses edited by Betty Ann Schwartz
The reader encounters a herd of horses- real and imaginary. Poems celebrate the race horse, the farm horse, the work horse, the circus horse and the new born foal. The poets include Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, Walt Whitman and William Shakespeare.