an alison lester collector

(mama bear collects the lester, evil sister and i used to force littlebro to tell us repeatedly that alison lester was his favourite author bahaha)

running with the horses, alison lester (penguin/viking)


this is a beautiful fictional story about a little girl (nina) who, during the second world war, had to make a wild escape with her father and a friend from their spanish riding school in vienna. they had to ensure the safety of the last four stallions from the school. nina adores the old cab horse zelda and begs her father to let her come along. Her father knows the treacherous ride they are about to make, isn't sure that zelda can make it. but he loves his daughter so much he allows it. and old zelda certainly has a lot of pluck in her. all this, and accompanied by beautiful alison lester illustrations, black and white sketches in front of coloured backgrounds.

it made me misty-eyed, i assure you. a story for horse-loving girls. and everyone else. and in case you are worried, it has a happy ending.