Kathy Brodsky

A Horse Named Special--Instant Smiles

Each page of this book has a little poem to match the bright, colorful artwork. The little rhymes are so much fun to read that I found myself eager to keep turning the pages—each one bringing another smile to my face. But, pretty pictures and clever rhymes are not all this book has to offer. There is a powerful message of hope and happiness with a certain can-do attitude to build the confidence of any child.

Special is a type of horse like many of the service dogs and other service animals. He gives rides to all types of people as a form of therapy. Some have physical disabilities and some have problems in other areas of their life to deal with. The relationship between rider and horse is an empowering one: bringing new skills in the mastery of horsemanship, which can be life changing when normal physical limitations or emotional issues are continually a challenge to manage on a daily basis.

Page after page, the book shows the accomplishments and the self-assurance this type of therapy can provide for people. Even Special has a huge life-hurdle to master, and he comes through the problem just fine through excellent care, hard work and patience.

Overall, I found the book delightful, encouraging, and even at the end I was left with a feeling of empowerment and well-being. The little rhymes are still playing in my head, which makes me smile every time I think about them. I think this book is great fun and a wonderful book for a child of any age.

I’d like to thank Kathy Brodsky for the lovely copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.… (más)

Pros: The illustrations in the book are fun.

Cons: I had several issues with this book. The first being that it seemed to be missing parts of the book. The cat goes from disliking having a dog move in, to the next page curling up with it. Well what happened in between? This is a children's book, and I feel as if a lot of opportunities were missed in this book. While I know not all books need to be lessons, this one decided to completely gloss over what could have been a great opportunity to teach tolerance and acceptance.

Another issue I had was that once the story was read, there was no need or desire to go back to it. I know for younger children there isn't much to a book, but this book is targeted towards the older toddler group. After I read the story, I was asked what happened to the rest of the book by the group of 4 year olds I read it to. That leads me to believe that children may not be satisfied by the story and may be looking for more.… (más)