Lawrence, Iain. Winter Pony.
A white pony is taken from the wild and used in Robert Scott's 1910 expedition to reach the South Pole before his rival Amundsen. The conditions are brutal, but after several years with horse breakers who are very cruel, James Pigg, as the horse is called by the men on the expedition, is pleased to be treated kindly and ready to work hard for the men. In alternating sequences, the preparations and progress of the two explorers are detailed. The horses and men all battle the elements the best they are able, but the end result is grim and death-filled.
Strengths: The South Pole exploration is certainly a great story of survival and battling the elements, and I can't think of too many other stories on the subject. We live in a world where there are very few frontiers left to conquer, so reading a story of one such adventure from the point of view of a horse involved is innovative and interesting. I didn't think about this title originally for my survival readers, but it will be great for them.
Weaknesses: Hesitate to give this to horse-loving girls, since so many horses die! There's something about Lawrence's work that I have trouble connecting with. I can't promote his Wreckers books as much as one of our teachers does.
On a totally unrelated note, I am feeling rather pleased with myself. I've managed to have a post up on at least one book every single day since January 1!This is partly due to the fact that after six years I figured out how to schedule posts, which has been a tremedous help. This past weekened I really didn't read anything but a few short nonfiction books because I was too busy celebrating birthdays, working in the garden, and generally enjoying the decent weather. I don't find blogging stressful, and I certainly read enough to have new content most days, but it is nice to be able to take a day off now and then and still have something new for my loyal readers out there!
On a totally unrelated note, I am feeling rather pleased with myself. I've managed to have a post up on at least one book every single day since January 1!This is partly due to the fact that after six years I figured out how to schedule posts, which has been a tremedous help. This past weekened I really didn't read anything but a few short nonfiction books because I was too busy celebrating birthdays, working in the garden, and generally enjoying the decent weather. I don't find blogging stressful, and I certainly read enough to have new content most days, but it is nice to be able to take a day off now and then and still have something new for my loyal readers out there!
Ah, scheduling it's a beautiful thing...you can even go back and reschedule already posted posts, thus making yourself look more organized than you really are!
ReplyDeleteAaaagh, The Winter Pony! Now, horse stories can be somewhat sad stories at first (either an abused horse or a misfit kid), but there's usually a satisfying ending for young horse-obsessed readers. This is a compelling read, but yikes! What a story.
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