Here is a Newbery Honor book from 1957. DPL no longer owns a copy, so I had to request it. In fact, now that I'm reading the books from the 50s, more and more of them will have to be requested. I am not looking forward to the books that are so old I have to interlibrary loan them. Somebody, please talk me out of my obsession to read everything on God's Great Earth!
People talk about a time when life was simpler and slower. Work was harder. Leisure time was perhaps non-existent. And I think this book reflects that. Today, books have to be full of action and adventure. They have to be enormous even if they don't really say a whole lot. Kids and myself devour them and quickly rush to the next … rush.
I find it so refreshing to sit down with a book that could technically be read in one one-hour sitting. This book has five to six important characters – tops! And really just two characters that you need to care about. There are maybe three or four settings, but one main one where all the action is. And it is NOT a vast "castle" with many rooms. It’s a corral on a ranch.
The book jacket will tell you that this story is about a boy and his horse. The boy, Pedrito, discovers a wild pony on the estate lands. The pony is a rare, pink color which of course makes the pony valuable in the boys mind. Pedrito is so intent on making the pony his own, that he asks the primary ranch-hand to lasso the pony for him. He doesn't want to miss the pony himself and chance the pony bolting off.
The conflict in the story arises when the Owner of the estate asks his Manager to acquire a pony for his son and the Manager thinks that the pink pony will make a fine present for the Owner's son. Not only is it an unusual color, but it is already tamed and the Manager cannot acquire such a specimen quickly. Now, the pony was on the estate lands, therefore it would belong to the Owner, however, the pony was captured and tamed specifically for Pedrito. Both parties will argue their claim to the pony that is called Chúcaro.
The argument is settled by allowing the Owner's son the opportunity to try to lasso Chúcaro himself.
Having read the story, I would disagree with the book jacket. This story is not so much about Pedrito and his beloved pony, Chúcaro. It is more about the ranch hand Juan who lassos the pony for him. He is made out to be the hero of the story.
Pedrito's mother is deceased. He is left with a depressed and alchoholic father who used to be a cowboy, but now chooses to drink when he is not sleeping and sleep when he is not drinking. And it is Juan who raises the boy. It is Juan who teaches Pedrito the ropes of being a ranch hand. And he does a fine job. Pedrito idolizes him.
Juan chooses to sleep outside under the stars, but he has a small shack where he keeps his valuables including a wanted poster, a postcard, a map and a picture of a waterfall. The wanted poster was a gift from the sheriff, for if anyone was to capture the criminal, it would be Juan. The poster is ten years old. The postcard was from a girl who didn't provide a return address so Juan couldn't reply even if he wanted to. The map is to plot his route to visit the actual waterfall. And the waterfall is the the paradise that he only dreams about.
What will it take to make Juan realize his dream … a boy and his pony.
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