The Best Horse Ever (review)

It's finally happening for nine-year-old Abby—she's getting a horse of her very own. When Griffin arrives, she's struggling a little to adjust to the reality of her new responsibilities, but she's still completely besotted; the problem is that her best friend, Devon, doesn't seem to properly appreciate this new wonder in Abby's life, causing a rift between the two. Sibling dynamics are particularly well depicted here: Abby's little brother, Brad, easily gets Abby's goat and uses threatened tattling to blackmail her, yet she still misses his company when he's elsewhere. Abby's self-focused attitude is developmentally credible, while her stretching to handle the large task she's taken on is evoked in ways that kids will recognize (she keeps making mistakes that put her and Griffin into risky situations). The Devon plot isn't well explored or successfully concluded, though—in fact, the story wraps up with startling haste—and the book tends to brush off the implications of Abby's horse-handling errors. Himler's gentle, sketchy illustrations are a little ill at ease in drafting horses, but the kids have an informal authenticity that enhances the it-could-happen-to-you flavor of the story. Youngsters who like to enhance their horsey yearnings with the trappings of reality will likely enjoy putting themselves in Abby's place and telling themselves that they'd have done better.