The King’s Book by Louise A. Vernon

Feb9

The King’s Book is a fictionalized story about the translation and publication of the 1611 King James English Bible. The main character is a boy, Nat Culver, whose father is one of the fifty-four men who is helping to translate and revise the English Bible at the behest of King James I. The plot involves secret Catholic priests and recusants (English Catholics who refuse to convert to the Anglican church), quarreling Bible scholars, and Nat’s own quest to decide who and what to believe in a London full of gossip and wild tales.

Vernon’s book contains a lot of interesting anecdotes about the men who produced the King James Bible: Lancelot Andrewes, John Bois, Sir Henry Savile, Dutch Thomson, Andrew Downes, and others. Sir Francis Bacon makes a sort of cameo appearance as a secret polisher and finisher of the text. And the stories Vernon inserts into her book are interesting, taken individually. However, the little vignettes about the circumstances and the men are just that: inserted into the overall story in an odd and jerky way that makes the book feel as if it is nonfiction masquerading as a fiction story. Nat finds out that one of the translators is an alcoholic, that Francis Bacon, not the king, is the man who actually chose the committee of translators, that the translators haven’t been paid for their work and some are living in poverty, and so on. All these things come to light while Nat is desperately trying to prove that his father is not a Catholic recusant and while Nat himself is being accused of thievery.

I think I read one of Ms. Vernon’s other books and found it better than this one. The King’s Book might be the only introduction for children readily available for the story of how the King James Bible came to be, but it would have been much improved if it had just been written as a nonfiction narrative. I could have done with a great deal more biographical information about the translators and historical information about the setting and the events of the times and a lot less about Nat running around spying and carrying messages all over London.

Evangeline and the Acadians by Robert Tallant

Feb8

This Landmark book, #74 in the series, published in 1957 (the year I was born), tells the story of the Acadians, or Cajuns as they came to be called in Louisiana and Texas, who were exiled from their homes in Nova Scotia. These Acadians were French farmers who settled in Nova Scotia when it was named Acadia by the French, and they were forced to leave Nova Scotia by the British who distrusted them and questioned their loyalty during the many years of war between France and Britain.

It’s a sad story. Tallant compares the plight of the Acadians to the Jewish Holocaust of World War II. While the Acadians were not taken to extermination camps, they were torn from their homes and dispersed up and down the Eastern seaboard, with many of them ending up in prisons or forced labor or just poverty. Families were separated, and many Acadians died on crowded, unsanitary ships or in homelessness after they reached shore.

So my question was: how did so many of the Acadians end up in southwestern Louisiana where they made a new home for themselves? To find out, you’ll have to read the book, or do your own research. It’s a fascinating saga, and Longfellow’s famous poem, Evangeline, only tells a small, fictionalized part of the story. As indicated in the title, Tallant refers to Longfellow’s poem over and over again throughout the book, and readers of Tallant’s book can learn a good bit about what parts of the poem are fiction and what parts are true. The fictional character, Evangeline, looking for her lost love, Gabriel, made the Acadians famous the nineteenth century, and today Cajun culture and history is celebrated in food, song, dance, literature, and entertainment.

Evangeline and the Acadians not only gives the history of the Acadians, but since those Acadian people were a large part of the history of Louisiana itself, the book is a sort of capsule history of the state of Louisiana. Mr. Tallant wrote two other books in the Landmark series, The Louisiana Purchase and The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans, and the three books taken together would be an excellent introduction for elementary and middle school students to the culture and history of Louisiana (and even southeast Texas). If I were helping my students of Louisiana heritage to study the history of their own state and region, I would certainly read these three Landmark books with them.

Of course, as I said these books were published in the 1950’s. The last two chapters of Evangeline and the Acadians talks about Cajun life and culture “today.” Children who read the book might need to be reminded that the “today’ of 1957 was much different from the twenty-first century “today.” I doubt very many Cajuns speak French as a first language nowadays or even use Cajun English dialect as the Cajun people have become even more assimilated into the greater American culture.

In addition to this book and the other two Landmark books by Robert Tallant, for those interested in the history and culture of Louisiana and of the Acadians, I would recommend:

Picture Books

  • Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford.
  • Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges.
  • If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong by Roxanne Orgill.
  • Mr. Williams by Karen Barbour.
  • Little Pierre: A Cajun Story from Louisiana by Robert San Souci.

Children’s books

The Barbary Pirates by C.S. Forester

Feb7

This Landmark book, written by the celebrated author of the Hornblower series of Napoleonic nautical novels, is not so much a book about pirates and piracy as it is a book about the beginnings of the U.S. Navy and naval warfare. One of the heroes of the book is Captain Edward Preble who established many of the procedures and protocols that became the basis for U.S. Navy regulations and discipline later on when the Navy was a more official entity. (The USS Constitution under Preble’s command makes a very brief appearance in C.S. Forester’s novel Hornblower and the Hotspur.)

The naval warfare in The Barbary Pirates involves the war between the new nation, the United States of America, and the nations of the Barbary Coast of Northern Africa, mostly blockade and eventual invasion of the port of Tripoli, which is in the modern nation of Libya. The war is called the Tripolitan War, after Tripoli, and it took place during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries while Jefferson and later Madison served as presidents of the U.S. The goal of the war was to clear the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean of North African pirates (or privateers) at a time when the economy of the Barbary States—Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya or Tripoli–depended on the prizes their corsairs were able to take and bring home. Of course, the U.S. economy depended upon the trade across the Atlantic with Europe and Africa. So, the war, which America eventually won, made the U.S. and Europe, over time, much richer, and the Barbary States much poorer.

I enjoyed reading about an era and event in history that I knew very little about before reading this children’s Landmark book. There is a book written for adults, Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade, that goes over the same ground in more detail, I would assume, but I haven’t read it and therefore can’t recommend it. I have heard it recommended, but also I’ve seen mixed reviews. So if you just want a basic understanding of the Barbary pirates and the war to contain them, I would recommend Forester’s little book. It’s well-researched and would likely make a good nonfiction accompaniment to Forester’s Hornblower series or to Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series of nautical adventures—for a bit of historical background.

These Landmark books are such a good introduction, for children and for grownups, to so many historical time periods, people, and events. I’m excited to continue my project of reading and reviewing many of the Landmark series books this year. Next up: The Slave Who Freed Haiti: The Story of Toussaint Louverture by Katharine Scherman.

Famous Pirates of the New World by A.B.C. Whipple

Jan13

After reading The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by A.B.C. Whipple, I wanted to read Mr. Whipple’s other Landmark pirate book, Famous Pirates of the New World. It was not a disappointment. In fact, I found this book even more compelling than Captain Kidd.

The book starts off with a bang, after an introduction about piracy in general and why it was such a problem. The author pulls the reader in by telling the story of “The Dark Secret of Captain Flood.”

“Captain James Flood had a secret. He kept it well, so well that when he died his secret almost died with him. In all his life Captain Flood revealed his secret to only one man, the first mate of his pirate ship. If he had not told his first mate, we would not know his strange, evil story. But we do, and here it is–the dark secret of Captain Flood.”

Can you resist that hook? Don’t you want to read all about it right now? The story is indeed a rollicking, strange, and violent one. Kids will love it, unless they are particularly sensitive to violence and mayhem. By the way, that disclaimer goes for the whole book. The pirates in this book are real pirates–murderous, evil, and greedy. There’s a description later on in the book of the advantages and disadvantages of fighting with a cutlass versus a rapier that will challenge even the battle-hardened veteran mom to read aloud. It’s fascinating.

And this isn’t a particularly moralizing story. As Mr. Whipple tells it, some of the pirates got what they deserved: they were captured and hanged by the neck, and good riddance to them. Others got away with their loot and settled down to a life of ease after their pirating days were over. “We know of hundreds (of pirates) who ‘retired’ and enjoyed their plunder without ever having to account for it.” Alas, that is the truth of the matter: sometimes justice doesn’t come in this life.

I thought this was a great book with all of the famous stories of Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Calico Jack Rackham, and Anne Bonney and many more. The stories of the pirates are full of adventure, but the pirates themselves are not glamorized. You would not want to find yourself on a ship with any of these men–or women.

The book ends with the story of Governor Woodes Rogers of New Providence, Nassau, a haven for the pirates of the Caribbean and of how the Governor managed to civilize many of the pirates and put “an end to the almost unrestricted piracy which had plagued the seas around the Americas for more than two centuries.” It’s an amazing story of good governance and wisdom on the part of a British-appointed governor.

I have only one complaint about this book: I wish I knew where Mr. Whipple got his information. There are no footnotes or endnotes in the book, no bibliography. When I tried to look up the story about Captain James Flood online, I couldn’t really find anything to corroborate that spine-tingling story. Oh, well it’s a good story, nonetheless, and it could be a true one. Who knows? Maybe Mr. Whipple got his facts from a dark and secret source.

Children’s Books from 100 Years Ago

Jan10

Here’s a list of children’s books published in 1923. See if one of these catches your fancy, and if so, let me know what you thought. (I have not read most of these books, but I do plan to read and review some of them this year.)

The Arabian Nights: Tales of Wonder and Magnificence by Padraic Colum. A selection of stories from the Arabian Nights, using the direct translation by Arabic scholar Edward William Lane. Colum selected and abridged some of the tales to make up his own version of the timeless stories of Shahrazad.

The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes. 1924 Newbery Award book. This novel is a tale of adventure and piracy in a seventeenth century sailing frigate, The Rose of Devon. Semicolon review here. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

A Boy of the Lost Crusade by Agnes D. Hewes. Free to read online at Internet Archive, with illustrations by Gustaf Tengren. A story of The Children’s Crusade.

The Burgess Flower Book for Children by Thornton Burgess. Stories about common wildflowers as they appear in the spring. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

Buster Bear’s Twins by Thornton Burgess. The adventures of bear twins, Boxer and Woof-Woof. Free to read online at Internet Archive. Listen at Librivox.

Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office by Hugh Lofting. The third of Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle books. Listen at LIbrivox. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

Elizabeth Ann at Maple Spring by Josephine Lawrence. The sequel to The Adventures of Elizabeth Ann. In this second book seven year old Elizabeth Ann, who is visiting her three aunts in turn while her parents are in Japan, goes to stay with Great Aunt Hester. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The first in a trilogy of books about Emily Byrd Starr. Listen at Librivox. Free to read online at Internet Archive. I read these books a long, long time ago. Maybe I’ll reread in honor of 100 years.

The Filipino Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins. The story of Filipino twins, Ramon and Rita, who live in Manila, Philippines. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cicely Mary Barker. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

Honey Bunch: Just a Little Girl by Helen Louise Thorndyke (Josephine Lawrence).

Honey Bunch: Her First Days on the Farm by Helen Louise Thorndyke (Josephine Lawrence).

Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the City by Helen Louise Thorndyke (Josephine Lawrence).

Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides by Rudyard Kipling. A collection of adventure tales and poems. Free to read online at Internet Archive.

A Little Singing Bird by Lucy M. Blanchard. Out of print.

Mary Jane at School by Clara Ingram Judson. An autumn story about Mary Jane’s third grade school year. (She gets to skip second grade to join her friends in third.) This book is part of a multi-volume series about Mary Jane.

The Perilous Seat by Caroline Snedeker. Set in ancient Greece, the main character is a high priestess at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.

The Pony Express Goes Through by Howard R. Driggs. Based on interviews conducted with boys who actually served as couriers for the Pony Express.

The Rose of Santa Fe by Edwin L. Sabin.

The Rover Boys at Big Bear Lake by Arthur M. Winfield.

The Six Who Were Left in a Shoe by Padraic Colum. The Story of “what happened to the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.” Illustrated by Dugald Stewart Walker. Free to read on Internet archive.

The Story of a Woolly Dog by Laura Lee Hope. A storybook by the author of the Bobbsey Twins series. Librivox audiobook.

Sunny Boy and His Games by Ramy Allison White.

Tarzan and the Golden Lion by Edgar R. Burroughs. Free to read at Internet Archive.

Tom Swift and His Flying Boat by Victor Appleton. Free to read at Internet Archive.

William Again by Richmal Crompton. Very popular in England in its day. Available for checkout from Meriadoc Homeschool Library. Free to read at Internet Archive.

A Yankee Girl at Antietam by Helen Turner Curtis. Free to read at Internet Archive.

The Tripods Trilogy by John Christopher

Jan10
  • The White Mountains by John Christopher, 1967.
  • The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher, 1967.
  • The Pool of Fire by John Christopher, 1968.
  • There was also a prequel, When the Tripods Came, published in 1988.

John Christopher is a pseudonym for British author Sam Youd, who wrote a multitude of novels and short stories for both adults and children, mostly speculative fiction, although he says in this 2009 interview that he “outgrew science fiction” before he became successful at writing it.

Christopher/Youd’s most famous books are these three, written for children and young adults, about a post-apocalyptic society in Europe in which a species from another planet, called the Tripods and the Masters, have subjugated the entire Earth and almost all its inhabitants. A small group of people in the mountains of Switzerland have managed to remain free and form a resistance group. And in the White Mountains our narrator and hero, Will Parker, is determined to join the resistors before he is “capped” and made a slave to the Tripods on his fourteenth birthday.

Boys Life, the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, serialised all three books in the trilogy from May 1981 to August 1986. The BBC started making a TV series based on the books, but it only lasted through the first two before it was cancelled. The books are well known in sci-fi circles, but they have fallen out of fashion in our dystopian, high fantasy influenced, somewhat violence-laden twenty-first century science fiction reading tastes.

These books are not so much dystopian as they are post-apocalyptic. Nobody mistakenly thinks they have created the ideal world only to find out they are sadly mistaken. The people of Earth have been tricked into believing that this world is all there is, that slavery to the Tripods is inevitable and probably for the best. At least there is no war because the Tripods won’t allow it. But even in the beginning of the first book, The White Mountains, there are hints that the ancestors of these people had technology and comforts that would be useful and life-enhancing. And to all but those whose minds are capped and controlled by the Tripods, it should be obvious that the coming of the Tripods was an apocalyptic event, an invasion that made the world a worse place to live, not better.

These books definitely reminded me of the sixties with themes of the unity of all mankind, the power of technology, mind control, meeting with and understanding (or misunderstanding) alien species, and freedom fighters. I thought of Star Trek with its similar concerns and themes. Although the story holds up well, the ending of the last book is a little sad and wistful in its recognition of human dissension and and its rather forlorn hope for a future of of love, peace, and unity. Again, very sixties and “all we need is love” and “give peace a chance.”

Anyone interested in vintage science fiction and apocalyptic fiction, alien invasions, and the history of the genre, would definitely enjoy this trilogy. I probably read these books for the first time about fifty years ago, and I remembered my enjoyment of them, if not particular plot points. This time around reading Mr. Christopher’s stories was a good way to start out my reading year.

Eleven Best Adult Fiction Books I Read in 2022

Jan5

Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes. I found a MacInnes spy novel that I hadn’t already read! Excellent. The setting is Austria and Germany, summer 1939, just before World War II exploded into the world.

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede. Also, sequels Across the Great Barrier and The Far West. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, beginning with the book Dealing with Dragons, are excellent fantasy stories for children, and I can now say that her adult fantasy novels are just as good. Fantasy set in an alternate history reimagined American Midwest.

Light Thickens by Ngaio Marsh. Murder, mystery, and Macbeth.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Klara and the Sun by Kashuo Ishiguro. Semicolon review of Klara and the Sun.

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Semicolon review of The Blithedale Romance.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.

Bargain Bride by Evelyn Sibley Lampman. Semicolon review of Bargain Bride.

The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams. Novel based on a true story of escape from a German prisoner of war camp during World War II. Hope at Worthwhile Books reviews The Wooden Horse.

The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson. Also the sequel, Fiddler’s Green by A.S. Peterson. Pete Peterson on the origin of The Fiddler’s Gun. A Rabbit Room review of The Fiddler’s Gun.

The Hammer of God by Bo Giertz. The only adult fiction book to which I gave five stars on Goodreads. I think I read about this book in this Gospel Coalition article by Leland Ryken, The Best Christian Novel You’ve Never Heard Of. It’s very Lutheran novel, but nevertheless accessible to all “mere Christians.” It’s also quite preachy, written by a Swedish pastor, bishop, and theologian, but the preachiness is very much a part of the story and not at all sentimental or overbearing. This novel is the best adult novel I read in 2022.

Ten (or Eleven) Best Nonfiction Books I Read in 2022

Jan4

The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler by William L. Shirer and The Mysterious Voyages of Captain Kidd by A.B.C. Whipple. These two Landmark books, written for children, tied for tenth place in my “best of nonfiction” list. Both were well-written, contained many interesting facts and stories that I didn’t know about before I read the books, and generated much conversation among the “Library Ladies” of whom I am privileged to be a part.

Mere Motherhood: Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes, and My Journey Towards Sanctification by Cindy Rollins (re-read) What I wrote a few years ago when I read this book for the first time still applies: “I laughed. I cried. I identified. Cindy Rollins, mother of nine homeschooled children, mostly boys, has written an honest, but also encouraging book about what it was really like to homeschool a large family in the 1980’s and 1990’s homeschooling culture. Cindy is honest about the things she’s learned along the way, but never jaded or dismissive of her younger self or of homeschooling families who work every day, although imperfectly, to get it right and teach their children to know the Lord.”

Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep by Tish Harrison Warren. Compline prayer from Prayer in the Night: “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.”

The God of the Garden: Thoughts on Creation, Culture, and the Kingdom by Andrew Peterson. “Solitude is a choice. . . Isolation is finding yourself alone when you don’t want to be.”

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis. (Re-read)

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang.

Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng. Another memoir of the Cultural Revolution and the reign of terror under Mao in China. Both this book and Wild Swans were difficult to read, difficult to believe that man could be so inhumane, so cruel, and that a society could devolve into such chaos and horror.

Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey.

The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus by Andrew Klavan.

Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey. These last three books on the list are the best books I read in 2022. I will be thinking about and returning to all three many times, I am sure. Yancey’s spiritual autobiography is heart-rending at times, but ultimately hopeful.

The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by A.B.C. Whipple

Jan4

Who was Captain Kidd? Most people would answer simply, “A pirate!” or maybe, “A pirate who buried a great treasure!” But was he a pirate? Or was he a falsely accused and misjudged victim? Was he a legal privateer acting under the King’s orders? Did he even have a treasure? And if so, what happened to it?

Mr. A.B.C. Whipple’s book doesn’t answer all of those questions. (HINT: The treasure is still either nonexistent or up for grabs.) But it does present a compelling case for the honor and victimization of one William Kidd, New York merchant turned—either pirate or privateer. Take your pick.

This Landmark history, one of the books in the famous Landmark series, is anything but a dry recitation of facts and figures. Of course, the subject is piracy and one of the most famous of all the pirates, Captain Kidd. But Kidd’s story is full of detail about the life and times of the pirates and about the late seventeenth century and its business practices and British politics; yet, nevertheless, the story is told in such a way as to draw in the reader and make him care about the East India Company and the coast of Madagascar and the intricacies of trade between New York and the West Indies—and much more. I love how these living Landmark books educate without pontificating, simply by telling a story.

The story begins with the British judge sentencing William Kidd to death by hanging, so there are no surprises about how Kidd’s story ends. But the author then goes back into to tell readers how in only six short years Kidd went from being a prosperous New York merchant to a criminal convicted of piracy and murder. It’s a sad, cautionary tale. Although I’m not sure what Captain Kidd could have done differently to avoid his fate, I certainly think some lessons can be drawn from his story. Maybe, stay away from ventures with politics and secret investors involved. Or, never trust a politician. Kids who read the book can draw their own lessons and conclusions.

As for the buried treasure, maybe it’s somewhere, buried still. I’d like to think so. In an author note at the end of my copy of the book, Mr. Whipple writes:

“Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, once heard that another author, Henry James, had never gone looking for buried treasure. ‘If he has never been on a quest for buried treasure,’ said Stevenson, ‘it can be demonstrated that he has never been a child.'”

I certainly remember searching for buried treasure once upon a time. Maybe this book will inspire treasure hunters, children or adults, to try once more to find the buried treasure of Captain Kidd. And maybe someone, somewhere, will find it!

This Landmark book, once a rare find, out of print, and very expensive to purchase, has been reprinted by Purple House Press, and it’s now available at a very reasonable price with updated maps and other information. If you or your child (or both of you) are interested in pirates, and who isn’t, it’s worth purchasing or borrowing from my library (Meriadoc Homeschool Library) or from your local public library, if they have a copy. If not, you should request that they buy one immediately. Maybe it has clues to the whereabouts of the treasure, or maybe the story itself is the treasure.

More about this Landmark book, The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by A.B.C. Whipple (don’t you just love that author’s name!) on the Plumfield Moms podcast, where they are featuring one of the Landmark books each month on the first Friday of the month.

Little Vic by Doris Gates

Jan1

Pony Rivers is an orphan boy about 15 years old who loves horses. He is especially interested in working around racehorses, and even more especially, one particular horse, Victory, son of the famous racehorse, Man o’War. So, after the death of his mother, Pony goes to Kentucky in search of the stables where Victory lives. And he gets there just in time to witness the birth of one of Victory’s many offspring, a colt that Pony names Little Vic.

This story is the tale of a boy and the horse he grows to love. Pony is rather obsessed with Little Vic. I grew up around lots of “horse lovers”, and I never did really understand the fascination. However, I can enjoy a good horse book, and Little Vic is that, with a little something extra.

Pony follows Little Vic from owner to owner, believing that Little Vic has the makings of a winning racehorse. Pony works as a stablehand at first, but later when he is separated from Little Vic, who is shipped to a horse farm in Arizona, Pony decides to pursue a career as a jockey so that someday he will be qualified to ride Little Vic in races.

Only on page 107 of a 160 page story do we readers find out something about Pony Rivers that makes this novel more than just another horse and his boy story. I have to believe that the author, Doris Gates, intended the information about Pony not to be revealed until two-thirds of the way through the story, so I won’t spoil the surprise. But such an insightful and beautifully written story, published in 1951, was indeed a surprise.

Another surprise is that the importance of prayer and of knowing the Bible are both woven into the story in a lovely way, and the entire narrative leads to the uprooting of prejudice in one character and to kindness and reconciliation between two of the characters in the book. Little Vic is a good horse story, but it goes deeper than that to show how faith and perseverance and humility can win out in the end.

“The way I see it, Mr. Baker, everybody has got to have some trouble in this world. I just got the feeling I would rather have the kind of trouble Little Vic will pick out for me than any other trouble I can think of. And you know something?” Pony moved so that he could look into the colt’s eyes. ” The way I see it, as long as I can be with Little Vic, nobody can hand me any trouble anyway.”

She decided to begin with the Book of Job. “He had a lot of things to put up with, too,” she told Pony, “and his faith in the goodness of God gave him the strength to bear with every one of them. People like us need a lot of faith to bear some of the things we got too.” She fixed him with her eye. “And faith in something besides horses,” she added as she pushed a pair of glasses onto her broad nose.

A book for horse lovers and for those who just love a good story, Little Vic also has the advantage of being illustrated by Kate Seredy. Little Vic is a winner.

Content considerations: At one point in the story, Pony decks a jockey who mistreats Little Vic. The story also has characters who exhibit racial prejudice, condemned in the story, not condoned, and the African American characters in the book are designated as “colored people”, a commonly accepted term in the 1940’s.