Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, The (Hardcover)

~ (Author, Illustrator) "The people were always moving from place to place following the herds of buffalo..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For most people, being swept away in a horse stampede during a raging thunderstorm would be a terrifying disaster. For the young Native American girl in Paul Goble's 1979 Caldecott-winning masterpiece, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, it is a blessing. Although she loves her people, this girl has a much deeper, almost sacred connection to her equine friends. The storm gives her the opportunity to fulfill her dream--to live in a beautiful land among the wild horses she loves.

With brilliant, stylized illustrations and simple text, Paul Goble tells the story of a young woman who follows her heart, and the family that respects and accepts her uniqueness. Considering how difficult it is for some communities to allow friendships to grow between people of different cultures, this village's support for the girl's companions of choice is admirable. Goble's bold paintings reflect this noble open-mindedness. The young horse fanatic of the house will joyfully add this book to his or her collection. Children are passionate people; they will relate. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Paul Goble's beautifully-told, Caldecott Award-winning book (S&S, 1978) receives a fine treatment in this book and tape set. It is the tale of a Native American girl whose tribe follows the buffalo. She tends the horses, and grows to love them so much that eventually she joins them. Accompanied by Native American music, the story is clearly and lovingly read by Lance White Magpie, and sound effects help bring it to life. One side of the tape includes page-turn signals, while the other does not. Audio quality is excellent. This would make a good listening center for units on Native Americans, art, or horses.
Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books (December 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0027365700
• ISBN-13: 978-0027365702
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #628,185 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Horses actually do drag this young girl away, May 14, 2004

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (Hardcover)

"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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book to Talk About, June 3, 2001

By A Customer

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.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate dream for a girl who loves horses, August 9, 2008

By	Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (LA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

"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.