Emma and Freckles - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0750002646 ISBN 13: 9780750002646

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Synopsis

Illustrated by Mary Lonsdale.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

When Emma gets a pony for her llth birthday, her dreams come true, but her joy is soon tempered by reality. Freckles has a hard mouth and a mind of his own, frequently leaving Emma in difficulty. Not anticipating the consequences, she rouses a neighbor's ire by jumping his fence, also spraining her ankle; the pony gets out and destroys her father's garden; Emma loses control at a pony show, knocking the instructor down. Fearful that her parents will get rid of Freckles, she runs away with him. Then, recovering from injuries received when the pony is spooked by a tractor, she accepts her need for help--only to discover that he's gone. Friends help rescue him from a cruel new owner, and in the end it all works out: Freckles is Emma's to love and train with the help of weekly lessons. Beales's concept of time is rather elastic, and the b&w illustrations don't always adhere to the text--which has been carelessly Americanized, leaving the setting in limbo. Still, these are minor flaws in a promising first novel. Overall, the adventures of overconfident Emma and her naughty pony are funny and satisfying: determination wins, cruelty is punished, and justice is served. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

This first novel trots out a conventional horse story: girl meets pony, girl loses pony, girl gets pony back. Emma, 11, bored with the ponies at her riding school, talks her parents into buying her one of her own. She falls instantly in love with Freckles and insists that she can control his headstrong ways. Once home with him, though, she has her hands full: mounted, he gallops off; unsaddled, he destroys her father's garden. In various plot twists, Freckles winds up at abusive Mr. Wetherby's riding school, then back at Emma's, where she finally gets to keep him--after acknowledging her willful and irresponsible behavior. Only the most horse-crazy readers will overlook the glaring deficiencies here--notably, the lackluster characterization. Emma comes off as a whining brat; her father is a dictator, and her mother exists only as a buffer between them; Mr. Wetherby is a cartoon villain. The setting, too, is problematic: obviously British--filled with unfamiliar terms ("roadside verge") and references to English country life--a half-baked attempt to Americanize it by referring to U.S. currency and holidays fails. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• ISBN 10: 0750002646
• ISBN 13: 9780750002646
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English