The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses facts for kids
Cover with Caldecott Medallion
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| Author | Paul Goble |
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| Illustrator | Paul Goble |
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Publisher | Bradbury Press, Simon & Schuster |
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Publication date
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1978 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 31 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-689-71696-6 |
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses is a beautiful picture book written and illustrated by Paul Goble. It was first released in 1978 and quickly became famous. In 1979, it won the Caldecott Medal, a very important award for children's book illustrations. Since 1993, the book has been published by Simon & Schuster.
About the Book
This book has 31 pages filled with amazing, colorful pictures. The illustrations were made using pen and ink along with watercolor paints. They are printed across two pages, making them feel big and exciting. The words are easy to read, and each page is a good size, about 8 by 10 inches.
The Story
The story is about a young Native American girl who truly loves wild horses. She helps take care of the horses her tribe uses for hunting buffalo. Her tribe moves around a lot, following the buffalo herds.
One day, a big thunderstorm causes the horses to stampede (run wildly). The girl is with them and climbs onto a horse's back. She is carried far away from her home. The next morning, she wakes up and sees a stunning spotted stallion (a male horse). He tells her he is the leader of all the wild horses and invites her to live with them.
Meanwhile, her tribe searches everywhere for her. About a year later, two hunters from her tribe spot her riding with the wild horses. But the horses run away, taking the girl with them. The hunters tell the tribe what they saw, and more riders go to find her. The stallion tries to protect the girl, but her horse stumbles, and she is caught.
The girl returns home, but she is very sad to leave the horses. She even gets sick because she misses them so much. Her parents see how unhappy she is. They decide to let her go back to live with the wild horses.
Every year after that, the girl would visit her parents. She would bring them a gift: a baby horse, called a colt. Then, one year, she didn't return. When the hunters saw the wild horses again, they saw a beautiful mare (a female horse) riding right next to the stallion. They believed this mare was the girl, transformed into a horse. This made the tribe very proud, knowing one of their own was riding among the wild horses.
Art and Style
The book's pictures show colorful images inspired by the Plains Indians of North America. This style is common in Paul Goble's work. His art often shows thin white lines around the figures, which are dressed in traditional Plains Indian clothing.
Many pictures also show plants and animals found in the grasslands of North America. You can see creatures like prairie dogs, bison, badgers, birds, insects, and lizards. The story and the art together show how closely Native American myths and folklore connect people to nature.
Awards and Recognition
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses won the famous Caldecott Medal for its amazing illustrations in 1979. This award is given to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The book was also listed in Scholastic Corporation's "200 for 2000" as one of the best children's books of the millennium.
