THE ORANGE HORSE: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 Although The Orange Horse written and illustrated by Hsu-Kung Liu (Reycraft: 2019) was published four years ago, the theme and message of the book are timeless. Written and illustrated with simple language and child-friendly illustrations, this book is playful yet simultaneously touching and serious.

REVIEW

I love the believability of how the story opens:

Every child knows that horses aren't orange, they don't walk on two legs, and they don't carry suitcases through the city. But none of that matters. The child reader suspends disbelief and is immersed in the story world.

Unfortunately, the only clue he had to find his brother was half of a photograph of an orange horse just like him.  

So, he did whatever any normal orange horse looking for his brother might do. He placed an ad in the newspaper. 

He received an answer!

But, it was from a HOUSE. Not a HORSE.

He decided to make his ad more specific:

Notice how each part of orange horse's thought process would make sense to a child. 

After a race car shows up, orange horse decides his third ad needs to be even more specific and he rewrites the ad. "My brother should have a black mane and a black tail." (Notice the classic pattern of three obstacles!)

His third try flops and the orange horse feels ready to give up. He goes to an art gallery, meets a brown horse, and begins to enjoy his company. They chat, run, and eat together. 

Notice the wrong conclusion that the orange horse comes to because of the way he is thinking. What a wonderful discussion point in preschool and K-first-grade classrooms!

After the brown horse mentions that he also had a long-lost brother and half an old photograph, they tried to match their photographs up. "But no, their half-photographs were not a match."

Both horses were upset. The orange horse wished the half-photos didn't exist so they could still hope they were brothers. Angry and upset, the brown horse trimmed the two half-photographs. 

Then he stuck the two halves together. "Don't cry," he told the orange horse. "See? From now on, we are brothers."

The beautiful conclusion is shown on the last page:

I think it is easy for writers to want to moralize and teach a lesson in their story. The Orange Horse is a great mentor text to show us all how NOT to do that. After all, there is more than one way to be a friend. Right?

GIVEAWAY

Thank you to Reycraft Books for generously supplying the illustrations and the giveaway. It will make a wonderful holiday present for a young child on your gift list or for your child's teacher. Just leave me a comment if you wish to enter (with your email address if you are new to my blog) or send me an email. U.S. addresses only. The giveaway ends November 30. If you sign up for my blog, share this on social media, or are a teacher or librarian, you will get additional chances to win this book. 

YOUTUBE TIME!

In this video, Wiley Blevins, editor at Reycraft, reads The Orange Horse. 

Congratulations to Barbara Cantor who won THE LUCKY DIAMOND. 

ONE SMALL THING: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

Marsha Diane Arnold's lovely friendship/nature picture books are no strangers to my blog. I've had the privilege of sharing several: May I Come In?, Badger's Perfect Garden, Mine. Yours Lights Out and Galapagos Girl. She's back again with her newest book, One Small Thing (Beaming Books) which comes out next week! You can find the story behind this story on her website where you'll also find a downloadable activity guide. The child-friendly illustrations are by Laura Watkins.

REVIEW

Quickly, the reader is drawn into the story. Something awful has happened in Brightly Wood!

The animals care that Raccoon lost his home, but they don't know what to do. Mouse feels too small to help, Rabbit hopes someone else will help him, Squirrel sniffles and is sad. Those three go home and return to their normal lives.

Beaver, on the other hand, can't get a nagging question out of his head. "Where will Raccoon live now?" Badger has his own worrisome problem. What happened to Raccoon's friend, a silly cricket? He goes on a quest to find him.

While Beaver builds a new house for Raccoon and Badger hunts for the cricket, the other three friends realize that there really is "one small thing" they each can do for Raccoon. 

In the end, Raccoon has a new home, and his friends learn that even small acts of kindness are big.

CONVERSATION STARTER

Although this story may seem obvious to adults, we need to see it through the eyes and experiences of young children. They hear about people getting sick, losing their home or a loved one.  Little ones will identify with the characters' feelings of helplessness. Hopefully, they will be inspired when they see a small (or big!) way to help a friend in trouble and take away the importance of caring even through small acts of kindness. 

I picture a librarian or teacher holding this book up and sharing it with a group of young listeners. The obvious questions the adult asks will be, "Have you ever felt like any of these animals?" and "What did you do to help a friend?" or "What could you do in the future?" 

GIVEAWAY

Please leave a comment with your name and email address if you are new to my blog. You can also email me if you prefer. U.S. postal addresses only and educators or librarians get two chances. The giveaway ends May 6th.  Don't worry if you don't see your comment immediately. I need to vet all comments before they go live.