Gretchen was headed out west with her family in the mid-1800s as part of a wagon train. She falls asleep in the warm sun and the horse she is riding wanders away from the group. Gretchen is far from her family, lost and scared, but a white stallion seems to know what she needs and offers her help.
Told as a story within a story, each page is mainly illustration with only a small box of text. There is some complicated vocabulary and the long-ago setting will make understanding more difficult, but the simplicity of the story makes it accessible. This is a good challenge for readers who are just starting chapter books.
Very young readers may be fearful at times as Gretchen is alone in the wilderness, separated from her family. She even sleeps in the woods as a coyote howls nearby. Luckily the book is short enough that even the suspense does not last long.
I’ve been turning this story over in my head for the past few days and I finally figured out why it was striking me as being odd. Essentially, this is a picture book which has been published in chapter book format. The rich vocabulary despite the length of the book, the small amount of text per page, the lack of depth to the story, it all makes perfect sense if this were a picture book.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Brothers push and kick each other and bump their sister.
Frightening or Intense Things – A girl falls asleep on the back of a horse and that horse wanders off. Horses nibble at a girl because she sits on sacks of food. The girl is lost and alone. A coyote howls nearby.
