Lucy loves her horse - Smudge. She has had him since he was a young horse and she was a tiny girl but Lucy is growing bigger and Smudge is growing older. Smudge is a small horse - too small for Lucy to ride and Smudge is finding it hard to move quickly. He can no longer manage to jump the way he used to. Pa has a new horse for Lucy. He is named Copper. Lucy does not want to ride this new horse but Copper has had a hard life. He needs her love and attention. Can Lucy learn to love Copper too?
This story gently covers themes of loss, change, memory, letting go and the animal human connection. The water colours and muted landscape backgrounds are very appealing. Lucy’s father is gentle and patient allowing Lucy to reach her own decision about her old and loved horse Smudge and the new arrival, Copper. Both horses have beautifully expressive faces. There’s a sense of tranquillity in the images and narrative. The past is portrayed using illustrations which are presented like photographs – snapshots of memories. Horse lovers will enjoy this book with its realistic and engaging story and predicament of saying goodbye and hello. I agree with the comment on the back cover which say- this is a story to warm the heart of every animal lover.
The illustrations are presented in a variety of formats from full page, to spreads across double pages, and in small frames and as sequences. The water colours and muted backgrounds are very appealing.
I have a Pinterest collection with over 90 novels and picture books for the horse lover in your family. Mandy Foot draws her horse characters in this book with great skill and sensitivity. Here is her web site.When you dip into her pages you will discover Smudge is a real pony and he was the model for her book. Take a look at my post from 2019 about horses in Picture Books.
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