Publisher's Weekly Review
Aren't ponies the best? The apple-cheeked children in this collection of short poems certainly think so. "My pony knows me./ He hears me when I come," says a girl pushing a wheelbarrow full of carrots into a barn. "He lifts his head./ He neighs my name./ He is my Sugar Plum." Except for one rambunctious pony (who "bucked me off-/ twice!"), the group exudes a serenity and confidence that comes with being unequivocally cute and unconditionally adorable: "I am a pretty little pony,/ as pretty as can be," says the narrator of the only poem not voiced by a human. All the girls at riding school/ are crazy over me!" The pony paeans by Meister (the Fairy Hill series) lack a consistently smooth lilt yet offer enough pleasing singsong rhythm to hold the attention of very young readers. Debut illustrator Rhys renders her chunky equine subjects as if from a single template (they all sport rounded faces, cute pony bangs, and a hint of a smile), but genuine individuality seems beside the point here. In pony love, the heart knows what it wants: more ponies. Ages up to 8. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Children, mostly female-presenting, fawn over ponies in brief poems and genteel illustrations.The title makes explicit what this book is about and who it is for, and it does not deviate from this expectation. Many poems deploy rhyming patterns recognizable to those familiar with Euro-American nursery rhymes: "A-riding we will go, / a-riding we will go. / Up and down the mountainside, / a-riding we will go." Some poems celebrate ordinary day-to-day life with a horse; others are fueled by fantasy and imagination, augmented by Rhys' watercolor-and-mixed-media art. For example, the illustration accompanying the lines "Gentle Gwen is a giant. / She's taller than a tree" makes wonderful use of perspective, showing a large horse towering over a child, providing shelter from massive raindrops. The illustrations are gentle to the point of docility, anthropomorphizing the horses with sweet smiles and tender presences. Even "Sweet Little Penny," who bucks off her young rider, does so in a gently gleeful way. The rolling hills and cobblestone paths call to mind the English countryside. Varied skin tones are depicted, though the riding gear and clothing are uniformly Eurocentric, an unfortunate missed opportunity considering that horse-riding traditions exist worldwide.Sure to become a fast favorite among the pony-preoccupied. (Picture book/poetry. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A wide range of ponies and children, all adorable, appear together in a stable, outdoors in a paddock, in fields, on treks to town, and even in fantasy in this charmingly themed book of poems. Each scene features a jaunty poem an assortment of rhymed and free verse offerings, and even some takeoffs on nursery rhymes like Hickory Dickory Dock in which a child talks about his or her pony. Simple musings are intermixed with some surprises, as in Kicking Kate, which reveals that Kate doesn't kick at all, and in Princess, which the pony itself narrates. Several poems are fantasies, including a boy's dream about being a cowboy. The illustrations, done in watercolors and mixed media, carry the book with their charming pastel (and occasionally pastoral!) scenes and humorous details. The two-page spread in which a boy imagines himself a knight confronting a pot-bellied dragon is especially comic. The collection ends with a journey through rolling, quilt-like fields to home and sleep.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2019 Booklist
