Customer Reviews

Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, The

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"The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses" won the Caldecott Award in 1978, the most prestigious award for children's illustrated books. As a children's librarian, I am always curious when I first open a Caldecott winner to see if I can readily identify why the book won the award.

Paul Goble is certainly an artist who sees beauty. He sets his story in the days of the Native American ascendancy on the plains. He renders nature in plentitude and colors the most beautiful black I have ever seen. In this Native American fairy tale a horrible black storm sweeps across the plains, frightening the horses into a stampede, carrying the older girl with them. She is what we would now call a horse whisperer.

In the night scene Goble depicts the black of the sky with stars and moon and the black of the high mountains in two shades of black. The horses, outlined in white against the mountains, look like gouache. The scene is stunning.

Goble goes on to have the girl meet a spotted wild stallion, who accepts her and the horses into his herd. By the end of this lovely fantasy, she has become a horse and the stallion's mate. The verdant flowers and rocks and pairings of five sets of animals match the horse pairing. It could happen in a fairy tale.

This story would appeal to any child with a strong artistic sense. Goble paints so much into his story that the visual story can almost stand alone. I know children who would love to "find" all the extras included in the scenery. The artwork is truly extraordinary. This book is highly recommended for ages 5 and up.

"The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses" is a straightforward tale of the Plains Indians, retold and illustrated by Paul Goble, unlike those that he has told about the trickster, Iktomi. This myth does not folllow any one story exactly but is put together from a great number of stories belonging to the peoples who lived on the Great Plains that Goble had read or listened to over the years. This story is premised on the importance of horses to these peoples. The title character is a girl in the village would loved horses so much that she would led them to drink at the river and when she spoke softly to them they would follow her. Her people recognized that she understood horses in a special way, which explains why this story ends the way that it does.

Every day after doing her chores the young girl would run off to be with the horses. One day there is a great lightning storm that drives the horses, carrying the young girl, over the horizon to a land she had never seen before. There she finds a beautiful spotted stallion, stronger and prouder and more handsome than any horse she had ever dreamed of. He is the leader of all the wild horses who roamed the hills and he welcome her to live with them. But a year later two hunters from her people discover her in the hills where the wild horses lived and they will try to bring the girl back to her parents. The question is whether the girl can be happy back with her people now that she has lived with the wild horses.

Goble's distinctive artwork, which recalls the art of the Plains Indians of the 19th century, is particularly well suited to this simple tale. As was the case in one of his earlier books, "The Gift of the Sacred Dog," which told how the first horses came into the lives of the people, you can tell that Goble likes to draw horses. In "The Girl Who Loves Wild Horses" he has ample opportunity to draw dozens of them, as well as the young girl decked out in her colorful garb, and I particularly liked the plant life he draws this time around. No wonder this book was the winner of the Caldecott Medal.

This is considered a children's book, and I haven't the foggiest idea why. This book has everything going for it--art, history, memorable characters, a tear-jerker ending and a just plain good story. This is arguably the most famous of Paul Goble's books--he has a whole series of Native American "children's books" and it has deservedly won awards. You--yes you--will spend a happy long time trying to find everything in Goble's intricate landscapes in each and every one of his illustrations. This book is my fantasy come to life. This isn't just a book--it's something to save from a fire. Unfortunately, I couldn't save it from my guinea pig Muffin, who ate the spine, but that's another topic

My daughter is horse crazy right now. That's what initially led me to this title. However, and fortunately, it turns out that the book is a wonderfully illustrated Native American tale, complete with a bit of magical realism. Thus the title of this review. We talked about what happened to the girl and why the tale goes the way it does.

The story is about a young Native American girl who falls in love with a herd of wild horse. She manages to join the herd and live with them for quite a while. (To say more would ruin the tale.)

My 7 year-old can read it unaided, but it does have more text per page than most early reading books. Though the story is about a girl, I don't think the tale is all that gendered, and boys should find it equally interesting.

A good lead in to this sort of fiction is the much easier picture book, Storm Boy, by Paul Owen Lewis [....] That is a magnificently illustrated tale from the Northwest, drenched in magical realism. In fact, we still read that book periodically; it's so enchanting.

Paul Goble transcends perfection. Any artist, or anyone who loves art, will want to look at this book again and again...

Simon & Schuster recommends the book for ages 5 to 8, but any child approaching or in his or her early teens would be enchanted by the simplicity of the artwork and the way it so powerfully conveys the story the words tell. Even adults will enjoy this poetic picture book.

My daughter and I just love this book. The illustrations are simply beautiful and the story is enchanting. This was one of the first books my daughter read by herself. We have read almost all of his wonderful books.

The ultimate girl/horse story. There are plenty of tales in which a young girl bonds with a very special horse. This is the rare book in which the girl not only bonds with a horse but, in the end, becomes one herself (as well as that horse's mate). Paul Goble made quite a career out of telling Native American folktales in picture book form. In this particular story, a girl's love for four-legged beasts is taken to its logical extreme.

In this book, a girl once cared for her tribe's horses during the day. She would water them and find them places to feed. One day, a storm rose while the girl slept and the horses grazed. In a panic, the animals began to stampede away, and it was only by her skill that the girl was able to climb aboard one. When at last they stopped, the girl met the leader of all the wild horses, a beautiful spotted stallion. The girl continued to live with the creatures until one day she was successfully captured by members of her own tribe. She was happy to see her parents once more, but begged to return to the horses. The tribe agreed and each year she would return briefly to give the people a new colt. When she didn't return one year, riders swore that they saw a black mare that greatly resembled the girl, now the mate of the spotted stallion. The book ends with a Navaho's song about his horse and Black Elk (an Oglala Sioux)?s dream about a stallion's song.

I was a little shocked that this tale never identified the tribe to which the girl belonged. Since, however, this is an original story and not a retelling of a classic Native American tale (or so the book would lead you to believe) I wasn't too perturbed by the omission. After all, when people tell stories about themselves, they rarely identify their nationality or allegiance. In this book, the girl's tribe is referred to simply as "the people". If you've ever seen a Paul Goble book before, you know what to expect when you read this. His characters are fairly featureless, though as an artist he spends a significant bit of time detailing their clothing, hair, weapons, homes, etc. He expresses a great love of color in all his pictures, and it's quite enjoyable to flip through the shots of multicolored horses. In its construction, this book is incredibly lovely. But the question that came to my mind while reading it was, how interesting will children find this tale? For those kids obsessed by horses, I think this book will go over like gangbusters. After all, as horse-love goes, this girl is an extreme example. In other ways, the book is a bit dull. When you illustrate a tale in which emotions are not visible on the characters, you're going to lose those readers that like seeing happy and sad expressions. It's a style choice on the part of the author/illustrator and while I respect it I cannot wholly recommend it.

Just the same, it's a lovely book to flip through. Just know that it is an original Native American tale and not a retelling. For every child that has imagined running away and joining a band of wild animals, this is the perfect story to read. A lovely lively concoction.

In The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, Paul Goble combines vibrantartwork and a mature writing style to tell a "coming of age"story. The girl at the center of the story lives in a Native Americanvillage with her family. The girl is known for her love and unique understanding of horses. One day, the girl falls asleep atop a horse as the herd is grazing in the meadow. When a storm blows up the horse carries the girl far away from the village as the herd gallop in fright. The herd of horses takes her in, and she doesn't return to the village until a year later. Upon her return to the family it is clear that the girl will never be happy separated from her beloved horses... Goble's writing style is not typical of many children's books. He uses figurative language that a young child may not necessarily understand. This suggests that the story contains an underlying idea beyond the obvious story of a girl who lives with horses. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses is written in a lyrical tone that appeals to adults while the subject matter and magical elements of the story appeal to children. Goble uses personification when he describes the "angry storm." Also metaphors can be found throughout the book; "[the horses] swept like a brown flood across hills and through valleys." Goble's use of language is in some ways aimed at adults which insinuates that he has included theme that also appeals to adults. Goble's Native American tale is clearly written about a young girl's passage from childhood to adulthood. The storm that causes the girl's initial separation from the village symbolizes the emotional strain and possible hard times that can come with leaving home for the first time. The herd of horses is the modern society that eventually forces all children to grow up and set out on their own. The girl's final transformation from human to horse represents a complete passage from child to adult. When the girl is taken in by the horses she no longer needs her family, she still, however, relies on the horses for elements such as protection. Only when the girl actually becomes a horse does she experiences true freedom. She no longer relies on anyone but herself. Self reliance in this case is the ultimate sign of adulthood. This Native American tale intrigues me and the pictures are incredible but I must disagree with one element of Goble's story. When the girl leaves the safety of the village she is rescued by the strong, proud, handsome stallion. She seems to stay with the stallion, obviously a strong male role, throughout the story. This seems to weaken the idea of self-reliance, and perhaps suggest that the girl will always need the stallion.

I buy books for her usually with horses in them because she simply adores these animals. I was hesistant at first with this book, because it's a little much for her to understand, but she loves it; asks alot of why questions but until now we have both been able to answer them. I loved this book as well and feel its very loving towards these animals, that are often neglected. I will probably purchase more books from this very author. Thank you Paul Goble and my daughter loves your book and we read it together time and again.

What I want to focus on about this book is the high quality, truly amazing artwork. I've never seen anything like this anywhere, surely the artist has a style all his own. I won't retell the story but want to also point out that the pictures actually tell the story without even reading the words. My daughter is only six and I read her the story and asked her questions as I read to see if she could predict what would happen next (she uses picture clues.) She answered the questions correctly.
Most of the pages backgrounds are white which is usually "against the rules" but I believe it was for dramatic effect for the blackness on the few pages that deal with the thunderstorm part of the story.
The moral of story of THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES shows us that if we pursue what we truly love long enough and with all our heart we will achieve it. Truly an inspiration, this exceptional book was the winner of the Caldecott Medal for 1979.

Soar!