This is a story of adventure, courage, friendship
and horses.
Having lived their life with horses, every memory of Nina’s and her
father Victor’s, are tied to them. Nina’s mother was a show rider who died when
she was four years old.
Nina and the old horse Zelda share a special
relationship. When war rages across the globe, shops and businesses in their
city all close down.
Then Nina’s school also closes.
Viktor and Nina,
accompanied by their friend Karl, immediately set out to cross the Alps and
reach safety for themselves and the four remaining stallions. But Nina refuses
to leave Zelda.
They begin a monumental and dangerous journey
through a city being bombed. It is Zelda’s finely tuned intuition that saves
their lives.
This beautiful and moving fiction story is inspired
by the rescue of the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School during
WW2. It has been re-released in a young readers’ edition through Puffin, ten
years after the first story was published. It comes with a cloth cover and in a
smaller size than the previous picture book published in 2016.
Stunning double spreads depict the escape, travels
and threats encountered by the group. Alison Lester’s use of colour emphasizes
the terror and danger that the group faced. The vibrant red of explosions, the
dark blue shades of danger, the flight of birds in green meadows for hope and
resilience, and the brilliance of the snow which heralds safety and new
beginnings, accompany her perfect text.
I love her fine-lined images and the alternating
use of colour and black and white in the illustrations. This is a perfect gift
book for children. It carries a story from history and all the themes that make
for perfect reading.
Title:
Running with the Horses
Author/Illustrator:
Alison Lester
Publisher:
Penguin Random House, $16.99
Publication
Date: October 2019
Format:
Hardcover
ISBN:
9781760892760
For
ages: 6 - 8
Type:
Picture Book