Book Review: Mine for a Month And Other Pony Stories
Mine for a Month & Other Pony Stories
Jenny Roman
162 pages
Recommended Reading Age: 10-13 years old
Some of the best stories I have ever read are short stories and so when I came across Jenny Roman’s book Mine for A Month, I knew I had to add to it my TBR pile. I picked up this book and thought I would dip in and out and read each one in between other books. But alas, the best-laid plans.
I was quickly engrossed in the first in Mine for a Month, the first story in the book. Holly is taking riding lessons on stubborn, lesson pony Copper. but she dreams of riding the beautiful Arabian in the barn Saracen. Although Saracen belongs to the barn, one of the other girls Lucy is her rider. When Saracen goes up for sale, everyone is surprised that Lucy and her family don’t buy her. That opens up an opportunity for Holly to get to try Saracen for a month.
I devoured the story and instead of putting the book away I jumped right into the next one. Each one as good as the first, although I have to say, my favorite was The Ghost Horse. Freya is, in a way, just like me. A child obsessed with horses. Imagines them racing alongside her car as she drives from point to point. When they move to a crumbling gate lodge, Freya things it’s the end of the world as they have left behind her access to a place where she was allowed to ride. She is a bit excited when she sees a girl riding a black pony and hopes to come across her. But her mom warns her not to disturb Miss Ditton, who owns the property. I won’t say much more other than you must read this story.
Here’s the thing about writing. There are so many magical words out there in the universe to help convey the story an author is trying to tell. And a lot of people think that writing children’s books, especially picture books, should be easy because they are short. What they don’t thing about is we are trying to create is a believeable story with as few words as possible. Picture books on average only have 500 to 700 words. Short stories are equally as tough and Jenny Roman does it masterfully! Every story in Mine for a Month is just as engaging as the previous one.
I read Mine for a Month via Kindle Unlimited.
