Module 3- The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Summary

A girl loved to be with the horse that belonged to her Indian tribe. One day a big storm came up and scared the horse and her. The horse ran with her on their back until they were lost. A beautiful stallion found the horse and the girl. The girl stayed with the stallion for a long time. When she went back to her parents she became very sick because she missed the stallion. Her parents’ final let her go live with the stallion. Every year she came back to see her parents. One year she did not come to see her parents, but the stallion had a beautiful mare with him. The legend says that the girl became the beautiful mare.

Reference of Book

Goble, P. (1978). The girl who loved wild horses. Scarsdale, NY: Bradbury Press.

Impression

This book was the Caldecott Medal winner in 1979. The illustrations help tell the story. The book has simple text and easy read for young readers. It is sad when the girl does not come back but it make the reader happy that she is doing what she loves and with the ones she loves most.

Professional Reviews

Paul Goble - The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses A Plains Indian girl is lost in the mountains during a storm. A wild stallion becomes her friend and she decides to ride free with the herd even after she is found. ". . . Storytelling and art express the harmony with and the love of nature which characterize Native American culture".--The Horn Book. Caldecott Medal; ALA Notable Children's Book. Full-color illustrations.

Paul Goble - The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses - Read expert reviews at epinions.com. (n.d.). Retrieved

          September 21, 2015, from

          http://www.epinions.com/reviews/The_Girl_Who_Loved_Wild_Horses_by_Paul_Goble/2004292333

      

        There are many parallel legends – the seal women, for example, with their strange sad longings – but none is more direct than this American Indian story of a girl who is carried away in a horses’ stampede…to ride thenceforth by the side of a beautiful stallion who leads the wild horses.  The girl had always loved horses, and seemed to understand them “in a special way”; a year after her disappearance her people find her riding beside the stallion, calf in tow, and take her home despite his strong resistance.  But she is unhappy and returns to the stallion; after that, a beautiful mare is seen riding always beside him.  Goble tells the story soberly, allowing it to settle, to find its own level.  The illustrations are in the familiar striking Goble style, but softened out here and there with masses of flowers and foliage – suitable perhaps for the switch in subject matter from war to love, but we miss the spanking clean design of Custer’s Last Battle and The Fetterman Fight.         

          THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES by Paul Goble. (2012) Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/paul-goble/the-girl-who-loved-wild-horses/

Librarian Use

This book would be good for celebrating Native American Culture during story time. Young children could pretend to be horse and act out the book.