Hello, Horse

While paying his friend Catherine a visit, a boy encounters something unexpected: Catherine’s horse. The boy isn’t sure if he likes horses, but Catherine shows him that he has nothing to worry about with her horse, Shannon. “Shannon likes people,” she assures him. “And you’ll like Shannon.” 

Catherine takes the boy to the fenced-in field behind her house. There, the boy meets Shannon. Although apprehensive, the boy listens to Catherine as she teaches him how to feed Shannon, how to lead her, how to groom her, and finally how to ride her. The boy might have been scared of horses at the start of the day, but as he rides Shannon across the field, he knows he has made a new friend.  

Hello, Horse teaches readers the dos and don’ts of cooperating with a horse through a short, pleasant story and beautiful, hand-painted art. Readers will follow Catherine’s lessons as she explains them to the boy. At the bottom of each page, an additional fact about horses elaborates on Catherine’s lesson. For example, as the boy feeds Shannon a carrot, a small caption informs the reader that all horses are herbivores. The book is easy to read, with one to five short sentences printed in large font on each page.  

The book is brought to life by Catherine Rayner’s stunning artwork. The characters are outlined in pencil and colored in soft strokes of watercolor, resulting in a clean and vivid art style that matches the book’s sweet and simple narrative. Rayner’s greatest achievement in the book are her backgrounds, which enliven the flourishing field behind Catherine’s house with a beautiful mix of spring colors. 

If you are looking for a book that provides young readers with a thorough lesson about how to interact with horses, Hello, Horse is right for you. All readers will enjoy its warm and heartfelt story about a boy’s budding friendship with a horse. Horse-loving readers will also enjoy reading the picture book My Pony by Susan Jeffers and The Sneaky Pony Series by Hadley Higginson. However, if you’re looking for another book in the Read to Wonder Series, check out Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London. 

Sexual Content 

• None 

Violence 

• None 

Drugs and Alcohol 

• None 

Language 

• None 

Supernatural 

• None

Spiritual Content 

• None