Customer Reviews

Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa (The Newbery Honor Roll)

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This is a really good book about people from Argentina and wild horses. I had to read this book for a class, but I truly enjoyed the book. Not only is this book multicultural it's also informative about the culture and how these people deal with horses, their line of work. Anyone interested in horses and how they catch and tame wild horses would enjoy this book. The story is mainly about one boy's journey and his wild horse, Cucharo. After the little boy finds Chucaro, he must endure hardship and make tough decisions, all for the love of his horse.

Written by a native of Hungary living in California, this is a quiet story about life on the Argentinian pampa, the vast plain that stretches from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Pedrito is the son of an old gaucho (cowboy) and the protégé of a younger, more accomplished one. They live and work on a large estancia (estate) herding cattle and training horses. One day, Pedrito and his mentor, Juan, capture one of the wild ponies that roams the pampa. The patrón, the wealthy landowner who legally owns the horse, desires the animal for his own son, a cruel and undisciplined prankster. When this boy proves himself unworthy of the horse, Juan refuses to hand it over. Wills clash, and Juan is fired. He leaves the estancia with Pedrito and their pony. Goodness and innocence have triumphed once again, though not materially.

The author clearly sympathizes more with the gauchos and farmers who work the land than with the patrón. He seems smitten with Juan, the tall, lanky horse whisperer, gentle step-father, and rugged he-man. Though the title names Chúcaro the pony, and it is Pedrito who discovers him, Juan is really the focus. The illustrations by Julian de Miskey corroborate the author's priority, giving Juan the most developed lines.

The author's somewhat pedantic tone ("Now scratching, you will agree, is a very personal thing") matches the overtly educational content: "Looking at it from an airplane flying high, the pampa seems vast, bare, and bleak." There is little dialogue, and the story seems to have been written with school lessons in mind. As such, it seems stuck in its time, and probably would have been forgotten if not for its Newbery Honor status. It has less value as children's literature than as a sociological artifact indicating the pedagogical concerns of the 1950s.

i found this book to be a bit disappointing. the descriptions about it sounded like it was going to be an adventure story of some sort about a boy and his horse. in reality the book reads more like non-fiction, with the narrative taking a definite second status to factual information about gauchos on the pampas of south america and their way of life, including their work, what they wear and eat, and how they entertain themselves. the information isn't very detailed, but as an overview for children it has vivid images, although younger readers may get bored at the lack of sustained plot and conflict.