Things are difficult for twelve-year-old Jan and her mother after her father's death, and when it turns out that her beloved horse needs an operation, Jan reluctantly gets money from an elderly woman whom she has befriended.

Things are difficult for twelve-year-old Jan and her mother after her father's death, and when it turns out that her beloved horse needs an operation, Jan reluctantly gets money from an elderly woman whom she has befriended.

The main character, Olivia, is an eleven-year-old girl who loves horses and finds her greatest happiness with them. The rest of her life is not so great: her family mostly ignores her and don't really understand, and she's a bit of a social outcast. She feels unhappy a lot of the time, as many young girls can feel, and in a low moment of unhappiness she unwittingly wishes to become a horse, as she thinks this will solve a lot of her problems. Olivia is shocked, to say the least, when she is actually turned into a horse. Thrust into the unprecedented situation of being a girl in a horse's body, Olivia is unsure of what to do. She feels strongly that she should keep her unusual state a secret, and joins a group of wild ponies, but is forced to seek help after sustaining a bear attack. Luckily, she winds up at a good stable, and meets Jenny, the daughter of the man who runs the centre, and together they form an unbeatable team in the show ring. But when Olivia can't resist showing off how much she knows, she puts her secret and friendship with Jenny in jeopardy. Olivia must decide whether she wants to remain a horse or return to her life as an ordinary girl, and in the process is taken on a journey of self-discovery.

A wooden toy horse, passed from child to child, introduces us to ten children who lived in ten different decades and different parts of Washington state. Starting with an 11-year-old on an 1890s wheat farm, this book describes the everyday life of a Native American girl sent away to boarding school, a logger's son who conquers his fear of heights, a polio victim who meets President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a Laotion immigrant settling into an American school. Includes a glossary of ethic and historical terms. A useful supplement to standard Washington state history texts.

A prehistoric survival adventure about a boy and a horse who rescue one another, from the Carnegie Medal-winning author of Apache and Buffalo Soldier. "A boy without a clan was nothing. No one. A boy without a clan was easy prey." Oak, son of the Deer clan chief, hopes that this summer he will finally be allowed to join the hunt and make his father proud of him. But this year is not like other years - the rains have failed, his father has fallen out with the Bear chief, and everyone is mistrustful of the new creatures that have been spotted near their encampment: horses. Then Oak becomes separated from his clan with only a young horse for company, and it seems that surely the worst has happened. But perhaps not all animals are prey. Perhaps Horse can be clan too.

Experienced backyard horsekeeper Joan Fry leads the prospective horse owner through the process of assessing suitable land; choosing a veterinarian and farrier; constructing and furnishing a small barn, paddock, and arena; purchasing a horse; and feeding and care. Of special value to both novice and experienced owners are the sections on feed, which take into account the most up-to-date nutrition research, and training the horse for safe and enjoyable trail riding. Written with encouraging cheer and plenty of “horse sense,” Backyard Horsekeeping leads the way to maintaining and enjoying your own horse on your own property.