Customer Reviews

Are You A Horse?

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first picked this book up off the shelf, I thought "Wow! What Fun!"
This story begs to be read out loud with all the feeling that is written into it. It reminds me of the P.D. Eastman classic, "Are You my Mother?", but with a fun new twist.

I performed this story at a book event recently. The kids listened intently as I did the voices of the animals. And the surprise ending got them giggling!

This is definitely a book to have in your collection to read aloud to your own kids or a whole roomful of kids!

Make sure you are reading aloud the first time you read the story! You get lots of opportunities to do your animal voice imitations, and the ending made me laugh more than any children's book has in a long time. I'm not sure why the SLJ (School Library Journal) review only gives this book three stars. (Maybe the review was imported from an outside source and the book was automatically given a neutral rating?) This is definitely a "Read it again, Mommy!" book!

a great intro for younger kids on classification! all things to just living things to animal and on we go to find our horse. What we do with him is a surprise!

I spend a good chunk of every weekend reading to my partner's kids. Unfortunately, it's the rare book that both the 7 year old and 4 year old enjoy. Andy's books--both Are You a Horse and Superhero School--are ones both kids request over and over again. The end of Are You A Horse is unexpected and make both kids crack up. There are also some great catch phrases that the 7 year old loves repeating (I'm not a man, I'm a cowboy.) The 7 year old also can't wait for a Superhero School sequel.

Andy's illustrations are lively and provide enough variety to keep things interesting. The kids love pointing out new things to me with every read.

We checked Andy Rash's "Are You a Horse?" out of the library the other day and have read it a couple times. We almost didn't make it through the first time, but my four-year-old daughter loved the ending so much we read it again.

The gist of the story is that Cowboy Roy's friends give him a saddle for his birthday with instructions to 1. Find a horse and 2. Enjoy the ride. Now, Roy appears to be a few beans short of a barbecue, and not only does he not know what a horse is, he doesn't know how to recognize one when he sees it. So Roy goes about asking many things, from a wagon to a cactus to innumerable animals, if they are a horse. Each response gives Roy clues about what a horse is or isn't in order for him to narrow down his search.

It gets a bit tedious as Roy goes from animal to animal to animal asking the same question. My daughter sighed quite loudly a few times when we still hadn't gotten to a horse. There is an amusing encounter with a lion and one with a sloth, but the humor - especially the sloth - is likely to go right over the little ones' heads. But anticipation builds as we finally get to a zebra and we know that a horse can't be too far off.

But turning that last page when Roy finally finds his horse is well worth the tedium of the rest of the book. The twist, while predictable to adults, is still amusing for adults, and it's hilarious for children. My daughter couldn't stop laughing and had to go run and show her dad.

We'll have to see how often my daughter wants to re-read this book over the next couple weeks before we have to return it. We'll see if the humor wears off and she loses interest or whether she wants to read it again and again. If the latter, I wouldn't mind adding this book to our collection. Recommended.

*12/13/10 Update* - I just added this to my cart and will be purchasing soon. My daughter has asked for it nearly every night since we checked it out.

I first picked this book out at the public library for my 3 year old daughter. The whole family LOVED this book. We have 4 children ages 21, 19, 15 and 3 and the older kids enjoyed reading this book to the 3 year old over and over. I had to buy it! I now buy this book for every birthday party we attend! Educational and silly all in one.

My 4 year old son and I LOVE this book. He loves the search the cowboy goes on for a horse. Its fun as page by page you meet and learn about different animals. He loves the anticipation of finding the horse. My husband and I both enjoy reading this story over and over, its a great book to do fun voices with. The Ending is the best part. It makes us all laugh everytime. This book is definatly a favorite at our house!

Very funny book - enjoyed by adults as well as children. I highly recommend this book for children from about 4 on up. It is a picture book, so children will read over and over while adults will find one reading enough - but enjoy enough to read over and over to their children. :)

The preschoolers and kindergarteners I teach love this book. It's really funny and super-silly. The cowboy doesn't even know what a horse is! He thinks a wagon, a cactus, a crab, etc., might be horses! Children love to feel smart and they feel much, much smarter than the cowboy in this story. Also, the refrain "are you a horse?" can be chanted or sung together to add to children's engagement in the story. The pictures are comical and colorful and the ending is funny and unexpected. This is really a good one!

SLJ Reviews 2009 February
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K-Gr 3--This humorous picture book requires a total suspension of disbelief. The premise that a man wearing Western clothing and sitting in a saloon does not know what to do with a saddle he receives for his birthday is delightfully silly. The instructions that accompany the gift advise him to "1. Find a horse 2. Enjoy the ride." However, the man does not know what a horse is so he asks a red wagon, "Are you a horse?" "'Nope, I'm an old wagon,' said the wagon. 'A horse is a living thing.'" He asks a cactus the same question, and it replies, "I bristle at the thought! I'm a cactus. A horse is an animal." Then he queries various animals absurdly found in the same habitat: a snake, a crab, a lion, and a zebra. The crab declares, "I'll pinch you good! A horse is friendly. I'm a crab! NOW GO AWAY!" The conclusion delivers a big chuckle. The gouache and India ink illustrations are comical and colorful, and the cartoon expressions capture the burlesque nature of the story. There are some clever visual interpretations. One series of six panels conveys the lengthy passage of time that it takes for a sloth to give his answer. A goofy giggle-inducing read-aloud.--Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA

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