The Night Horses

by Anaka Jones

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Pub Date Feb 26 2012 | Archive Date Apr 04 2015

Description

In "The Night Horses", Anaka Jones creates a playful children's book that imagines the secret lives of barn horses who chatter, chow, play and work all while their owners are away. Though she was only in sixth grade when she wrote the book, Jones has produced a lively book that mixes reality and fantasy to showcase the playful and humorous side of rural life. She invites readers to accompany her to a secret barn party where these animals will play as hard as they work.

"The Night Horses" follows the animals' daily lives. Each morning, the horse herd takes their breakfast at the hay feeder. Mulling around, they exchange gossip and share their plans for the day. There's May, an old mare whose giddy-up spirit fuels her energetic personality. She wants to challenge Cloud to a race even though she is three times his age. Frisco and Bella are an inseparable married couple, and plenty of young foals timidly hide behind their mothers' legs amongst the group.

After a long day of work, the horses clean up, head to their stalls for dinner, and wait in the barn until their owners head back to the house. With humans out of the picture, the horses get busy creating their own rural night life, effectively turning the farm into their own little three-ring circus.

The whimsical nature of Jones' children's book allows young readers to tap into their imagination and picture what goes on inside the heads of the animals around them. A perfect story for children who love animals, "The Night Horses" depicts the world of love and companionship to be found among horses and humans.

In "The Night Horses", Anaka Jones creates a playful children's book that imagines the secret lives of barn horses who chatter, chow, play and work all while their owners are away. Though she was...

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Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781452882789
PRICE	$11.99 (USD)

Additional Information

Average rating from 23 members

Featured Reviews

Reviewer 238479

The author, Anaka Jones (who is still a schoolgirl herself), has created a cheerful picture book for young readers. We're introduced to quite a few likeable characters throughout the book, the old horse (likes to entertain the girls with comedy), the elderly couple (they don't like being separated) and much more.
The illustrations tie in perfectly with the story.
The page I liked most was the last one, because of the scenery with horses grazing under a full moon. A peaceful, tranquil ending, which makes this an ideal bedtime read.

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Christine E, Reviewer

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
This cute little book details the adventures of horses during the night. The reader is first introduced to the horses during the day. Soon the reader sees what the horses do at night, and it isn’t your normal horse behavior.
I admit, I wasn’t too fond of the idea of describing two of the horses as married. Despite this, the charm of the book lies in the details that pop in the artwork. There are all types of little details and jokes that pop up in the art work. Enough that an adult reading it to a child will get some humor out of it.

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Ben L, Reviewer

It is an unusual thing to find a self-published picture book, especially one created by a sixth grader, and still be able to recommend it, but Anaka Jones is clearly a talented young lady.

In the first part of this lively, colorful story, it is daytime and the horses trot and eat and do normal things, but at night time they get the disco ball out and things get more wild. Children will enjoy the colorful illustrations and the funny things that the horses and other animals do at night(including a small mouse who kids will search to find on almost every page).

I would definitely recommend this for young children 3-6 years old. I was glad to see it is available both in print and digital form, as this would be one I would want to hold in my hands.

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katarina o, Reviewer

Cute picture book for young children. Short on text, so perfect for very young children, with nice illustrations, and a fantastic storyline to fuel the imagination.

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Anika P, Reviewer

Toddler liked this book and said "night, night horsies" when she saw it on my Facebook feed a bit later. The story starts out serious and turns silly. The illustrations are colorful and perfect for discussion with youngsters. I found it fun to read aloud and I will be recommending the book to other mothers. Written by a 12-year-old and published independently via Amazon's increasingly popular CreateSpace.