Subbie and his Mate by Corinne Fenton illustrated by Mark Wilson

 

The most famous horse race in Australia is The Melbourne Cup. It is always run on the first Tuesday in November. in 1992. After his racing career ended Graham Salisbury adopted him.

"Subbie and Graham went to schools, then hospitals and aged-care homes. They visited sick children and lonely old people, those who were fearful or sad or shy. Subbie bought happiness and laughter to them all."

"After the Black Saturday bushfires, Graham and Subbie toured the scorched and blackened countryside, bringing smiles to tired, frightened faces."

Horse lovers will adore this true story about an amazing horse and an even more amazing man. It could also be a book to share with groups of children on Melbourne Cup Day – I had a teacher in my former school who was always looking for books to share with her class on Melbourne Cup Day. 

The story of Subbie touched my heart especially when, as an older retired horse, he visited hospitals, schools and aged-care homes and even assisted people emotionally after the Black Saturday bushfires. He was so much more than a winning racehorse. Reading this book made me want to know more about Graham and Subbie. If you have time, there are a few YouTube videos about Graham and Subzero – they made me cry – so very special. Here is a very short one. And one that is around 3 minutes long. 

The end papers are perfect, but I do wish a different image had been selected for the cover. To me, that is the only weak part of this book. I think the image on the page 'For a handshake and a dollar Graham Salisbury bought the famous thoroughbred' would have been a better choice – it is a powerful, emotional illustration that perfectly matches the tone and themes of this book. Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher with questions and activities and a further reading list. Take a look at this review from Kids' Book Review.  In this interview with EQ Life Magazine, Corinne Felton talks about making this book with Mark Wilson. You can see other books by Corinne Fenton here. And books by Mark Wilson here. 

Here are some notes about the illustrations by Mark Wilson: I use a lot of photos of Subbie for each illustration, of which there are many, including Corinne’s own photos of Subbie at his home. I watched films of Subbie to study how he walked, bowed and galloped, particularly how Subbie and Graham interacted. I sketched from these photos and films, finding different angles, never directly copying, but using them to make sure that all the detail in the illustrations is as realistic as possible – for instance, Subbie’s long thin nose. I draw different angles. Sometimes it’s a long shot, then perhaps a view from above, a ground-level angle, then a close-up, then a long shot - so Subbie is small in the overall picture. Many people do this when making documentaries or movies, for variety, to keep the viewer engaged. I approach picture books the same way.

Here are a couple of other (much less serious) books to share with your students about horse racing:

The Epic Race

I'm not especially keen on these next two books but they might be in your school library - they are both very silly but they might give your young students a smile.