There are four books in the Horses in History series: Appaloosy, Dusty’s Trail, Day and Night, and Golden Sunrise. These books are stories about history told by the horses themselves. Richardson is actually writing a new book called Blue Skies West. After reading the other books, I can’t wait to read it!
About the Books:
Appaloosy is about an Appaloosa named Storm, who belongs to the Nez Perce tribe. He runs free until he is given to young brave, White Feather. It is quite a difference from his old life seeing as how he is a wild horse that is unable to become truly tamed. Storm ends up with young Faith after many other adventures. Faith loves Storm very much and she is the only one who can ride him. Storm is captured by horse rustlers. When he escapes from them he has to decide whether to go with his mare and travel freely again or make a loyal return to Faith?
Dusty’s Trail is about Dusty and his rider, Levi Anderson. Levi decides to join the Pony Express with the unwilling Dusty. Dusty tries everything to get Levi to change his mind. When that fails, Dusty finally accepts the new job and the two bond even closer together. The Pony Express is under attack though and is becoming extremely dangerous. When Levi is taken by Indians, will Dusty run away in fear or be a loyal steed and save his rider?
Day and Night is about Tucker and Shiloh, two brothers as different as day and night who were separated at the beginning of the Civil War. Shiloh finds himself stolen by a little Confederate girl, Sarah, while Tucker is sold to the US Army. The two horses have adventures including breaking in, wars, training, and more. The brothers are desperate and tired of all the fighting. Most of all, they just want to see each other again. Will each horse and their rider survive the war? Will the brothers see each other again or will they die all alone?
Golden Sunrise is about a Palomino mare, Cheyenne and Jared, her rider. The two become defenders of the Fort Alamo against Mexican forces. Cheyenne and Jared continue to have adventures like meeting Davy Crockett and hiding a cannon near the town, Gonzalez. The more Cheyenne learns about this war, the more she enjoys fighting for the freedom. Will Jared and Cheyenne make it out alive or not and will they help free Texas from the Mexican rule?
My Daughter’s Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading these books. I am not a big fan of history because all the dates are hard to memorize. Even though I understand we are supposed to learn from history so we don’t repeat it, it’s just not fun for me. History is extremely boring if you just write it like a biography. Mattie Richardson took history and added it with something that most kids enjoy to make an exciting way to learn history. Adventure, mystery, romance, history, suspense, horses, Indians, wars, freedom, and action are all included in this series.
My favorite horse was definitely Storm because Appaloosas are my favorite horses with their spots and because I enjoy learning about Indians. Combining my favorite animal with my favorite thing about history is pretty cool. Storm has a fun personality that this book brings alive. He is charming and adventurous with just enough mischievousness to keep everyone else on their toes.
My favorite book was not Appaloosy even though I enjoyed reading about Storm and the Indians. Day and Night was probably my favorite book because I like Sarah and the story line. This book reminds me of the story of Mulan. Sarah pretends to be a boy to fight in the war. She is found out by a US soldier who has compassion on her and takes her home. They get married and so the story has a happy ending. Shiloh and Tucker are done with the war. Sarah is done with the war. Everyone is done with the war.
I enjoy the action and plot of this book. It has suspense and action. Wars are not my favorite thing to learn about but this story is a little light so the book is not depressing. I definitely recommend these books for anyone that wants to read about history in a fun way.
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