Picture Books
Armstrong, Jennifer. Magnus at the Fire. When the Broadway Fire House acquires a motorized fire engine, Magnus the fire horse is not ready to retire.
Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. The Perfect Pony. While searching for a sleek, fast, and spirited pony to own, a young girl comes to realize that the “perfect” pony is actually very different.
Cooper, Kelly. If a Horse had Words. When a boy frees a foal from a muddy hole a friendship between the two begins to blossom.
Doyle, Malachy. Horse.Illustrations and simple text describe the first year of a foal’s life, from his birth one warm spring night, through lazy summer days, to the next spring, when he is old enough to be bridled like his mother.
Egan, Tim. Roasted Peanuts. Sam the horse gets picked to be on the local baseball team, but unfortunately his friend Jackson the cat, despite being a good thrower, is not selected.
Galing, Ed. Tony. Tony, a large white horse, lovingly helps his driver deliver dairy products throughout town in the early morning hours.
Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Though she is fond of her people, a girl prefers to live among the wild horses where she is truly happy and free. (Caldecott)
Haas, Jessie. Appaloosa Zebra, a Horse Lover’s Alphabet. Moving through the alphabet, a girl ponders the many different kinds of horses she will have when she gets older, from Appaloosa to zebra.
Haas, Jessie. Scamper and the Horse Show. Molly and her sister hope that their horse Scamper’s costume will win a blue ribbon in the horse show, but some unexpected rainfall changes the situation. Includes information on horse shows.
Haas, Jessie. Sugaring. Nora wants to find a way to give the horses a special treat for helping her grandfather and her gather sap to make maple syrup.
Jeffers, Susan. My Chincoteague Pony. Every summer on Chincoteague Island, there is an auction of ponies who have swum across the channel from Assateague, where ponies run free. If Julie works hard and saves her money all year, perhaps she can win the pony of her dreams, her very own Chincoteague pony.
Kalan, Elliott. Horse Meets Dog. When Horse and Dog meet, Dog thinks he has met a very big canine, Horse thinks he has come across a tiny little baby horse, and humorous confusion ensues.
Kumin, Maxine. Oh, Harry! Harry the Horse excels at calming skittish equines in Adams & Son’s show-horse barn, but he faces a different challenge when mischievous six-year-old Algernon Adams the Third arrives.
Lester, Alison. Noni the Pony. Introduces Noni the pony, who is friendly and funny and lives at Waratah Bay, where her best friends are Dave Dog and Coco the cat.
Marino, Gianna. If I had a Horse. A child imagines what it would be like to have a horse, from their common personality traits to embarking on new adventures.
Rash, Andy. Are You a Horse? When Roy gets a saddle for his birthday, he goes in search of a horse.
Yolen, Jane. Hush, Little Horsie. Rhyming text assures foals that their mothers are watching over them while they leap on a farm, frolic on a beach, gallop on a plain, and sleep in a stall.
Illustrated Literature
Bunting, Eve. Thunder horse. Relates the friendship and love between a little girl and the winged horse she receives as a gift.
Hubbard, Crystal. The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby: The Story of Jimmy Winkfield. A biography of Jimmy Winkfield, who battled racism and other obstacles on the road to becoming one of horseracing’s best jockeys and, in 1902, the last African American to win the Kentucky Derby.
MacLeod, Elizabeth. Bunny the Brave War Horse: Based on a True Story. A long-eared horse named Bunny proves himself invaluable as a war horse during World War I.
Markle, Sandra. Race the Wild Wind: A Story of the Sable Island Horses. A few horses, set free on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, soon become wild and, led by one fine stallion, find a way to survive.
McCully, Emily Arnold. Wonder horse. A fictionalized account of Bill “Doc” Key, a former slave who became a veterinarian, trained his horse, Jim Key, to recognize letters and numbers and to perform in skits around the country, and moved the nation toward a belief in treating animals humanely.
Ransom, Candice, F. Pony Island. Rhyming text describes the origins of Chincoteague ponies and how they were rounded up and sold for the first time to pay for a new fire engine. Includes facts about the ponies, their home on Assateague island, and their relationship with the people of Chincoteague island.
Beginning Readers
Bang-Campbell, Monika. Little Rat Rides. Little Rat overcomes her fear and learns to ride a horse, just like her daddy did when he was young.
Guest, Elissa Haden. Iris and Walter and the Birthday Party. At Walter’s birthday party his guests are supposed to go for horseback rides, but his horse Rain has other plans on the day of the party.
Hapka, Cathy. Really Riding! Today is a special day for the Pony Scouts. It’s time for Meg and Annie’s first-ever riding lesson on Jill’s farm, followed by a Pony Scouts sleep-over!
Hapka, Cathy. Runaway Ponies! Staying with fellow Pony Scout Jill while her parents are away for the weekend, Meg looks forward to spending time with her friends and caring for Jill’s ponies until an unlatched stall leads to a dramatic rescue effort.
Long, Ethan. Dance, Dance, Dance!Horse and Buggy are best friends, but Horse likes to dance and Buggy doesn’t–until Horse shows him how to get down!
Meister, Cari. My Pony Jack. Easy-to-read, rhyming text follows Lacy as she spends a day with her pony, giving him exercise, grooming him, and feeding him oats and hay.
Ransom Candice, F. Rescue on the Outer Banks. Sam Deal and his horse, Ginger, help an African-American lifesaving crew rescue shipwreck victims off the coast of North Carolina in 1896.
Silverman, Erica. Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa. Cowgirl Kate and her cowhorse Cocoa, who is always hungry, count cows, share a story, and help each other fall asleep. (series)
Spinner, Stephanie. Paddywack. Paddywack. is a spunky pony who jumps, trots, and walks beautifully, as long as his rider remembers his treats.
Nonfiction
Horses and Ponies. 636.1 to J 636.19.
Horse Riding 798.2
Fiction
Amateau, Gigi. Chancey of the Maury River. After being abandoned, Chancey, an albino Appaloosa horse, finds a new home with Claire who needs him as much as he needs her, but as his eyesight deteriorates, he and Claire start anew as a therapeutic team. 246 pages. Level S. (J FIC Ama)
Bagnold, Enid. National Velvet. The timeless story of 14-year-old Velvet Brown, her beloved horse Pie, and their race for victory in the Grand National Steeplechase. 339 pages. Level X. (J FIC Bag)
Byars, Betsy Cromer. Little Horse. Little Horse falls into the stream and is swept away into a dangerous adventure and a new life. 45 pages. (J FIC Bya)
Duey, Kathleen. Katie and the Mustang. Orphaned nine-year-old Katie Rose is sent to live with the Stevenses, and her backbreaking toil is eased by the relationship she develops with a mustang Mr. Stevens brings home. 135 pages. Level T. (Series Hoofbeats) (J FIC Due)
Farley, Walter. Black Stallion. Young Alec Ramsay is shipwrecked on a desert island with a horse destined to play an important part in his life. Upon rescue, their adventure continues in America. 197 pages. Level T. (series) (JPB Far)
Garlick, Nicholas. Storm Horse. Twelve-year-old Flip’s father dies so he goes to live with his stern and hostile uncle on the remote Dutch island of Mossum. His only “friend’ is a strange, mute girl whom he thinks of as the ghost girl- until he rescues a horse from the stormy sea and discovers a new purpose in caring for his charge. 242 Pages. (J FIC Gar)
Gemeinhart, Dan. Some Kind of Courage. In 1890 Washington the only family Joseph Johnson has left is his half-wild Indian pony, Sarah, so when she is sold by a man who has no right to do so, he sets out to get her back–and he plans to let nothing stop him in his quest. 234 pages. (J FIC Gem)
George, Jessica Day. The Rose Legacy. Orphaned Anthea Cross hopes to finally find a home with her long-lost uncle, but after she learns that her uncle secretly breeds forbidden horses, she discovers that she is able to communicate with them. 263 pages. (Series Rose Legacy) (J FIC Geo)
Gregg, Stacy. The Princess and the Foal. When Queen Alia is killed in a tragic accident, Princess Haya is devastated. Knowing how unhappy she is and how much she loves horses, Haya’s father, King Hussein, gives her a special present: a foal of her very own. And this foal changes Princess Haya’s world completely. 263 pages. (J FIC Gre)
Haas, Jessie. Rescue. When Chess moves near Joni, their differing opinions have Joni defending her family’s farm, and she must find the courage to stand up to Chess when she decides to “rescue” the miniature horses from a nearby farm. (189 pages. (J FIC Has)
Henry, Marguerite. Misty of Chincoteague. The determination of Paul and his sister Maureen to own a Chincoteague pony is greatly increased when the Phantom and her colt are among those rounded up for the yearly auction. 173 pages. Level R. (JPB Hen)
Lasky, Kathryn. The Escape. Estrella is a filly, daughter of the lead mare, one of a shipment of horses bound for the new world. When the ship is becalmed and the horses are dropped overboard to lighten the load, Estrella finds that it is up to her to lead the herd to land and safety. 219 pages. (Series Horses Of The Dawn) (J FIC Las)
Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty. A horse in nineteenth-century England recounts his experiences with both good and bad masters. 199 pages. (J FIC Sew)
Smiley, Jane. Riding lessons. When Ellen meets Ned, a beautiful colt who hurt his leg on his way to becoming a racehorse, she becomes determined to behave at school and at home so she can have more time at the ranch. 183 pages. (J FIC Smi)
Smiley, Jane. The Georges and the Jewels. Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt grows up on her family’s California horse ranch in the 1960s, learning to train the horses her father sells and trying to reconcile her strict religious upbringing with her own ideas about life. 232 pages. (Series The Horses of Oak Valley Ranch)(J FIC Smi)
