The Girl’s Thoughts on The Trouble With Being a Horse by Emily Edwards

The Girl (age 11) just finished reading The Trouble With Being a Horse by Emily Edwards.  She wanted to share her thoughts with all of you, but she wanted me to ask her questions about the book, rather than write up a review.

First, here’s a little teaser passage:

Olivia shook her head violently to help clear it, but all that happened was that her hair fell in her face.  “Funny,” she thought, “I don’t remember having such long hair.”  She tried to brush it out of her face with her hand, but discovered she couldn’t lift her arms more than a few inches off the ground.  Shock was an understatement for how Olivia felt when she looked down at herself to see not arms, but legs!  With hooves!  She was so surprised, she jumped straight up from where she had been lying.  She did so very clumsily, which of course may be expected, now having twice as many legs as she used to have.  Olivia couldn’t understand what was going on.  (page 25)

Tell us about The Trouble With Being a Horse in 5 sentences or less.

Olivia, who’s 11 years old, wants her parents to get her a horse, but after her father loses his job, she can’t even go to the farm where she works and takes lessons.  She sneaks away to the farm and goes for a ride on Trouble.  After an accident, she finds that she has turned into a horse.  As a horse, Olivia has a lot of problems, but she meets new friends and takes part in competitions.

Why did you want to read this book?

I’m interested in horses, and I had a fun time with my best friend at the horse farm where she works and takes lessons.  After reading the sample chapter online, I thought it sounded good.

Tell us about the main character, her personality, conflicts, etc.

Olivia seems nice and exciting and someone who I’d be friends with.  She has to deal with her father losing his job and not being able to communicate when she’s a horse.

What did you think of the author’s writing style?

I liked it.  It kept me interested, but there could have been less about the competitions.

Did you learn anything from the story or the main character?

I learned a lot of vocabulary about horses and that horses are scared of fire.  I learned some moves that horses do in competitions.  I learned that not all of the things you wish for turn out to be good.

Did you like the book?  Would you recommend it to your friends?  Would you recommend it to adults?

Yes, I liked it.  I would recommend it, but mostly to horse lovers who know a lot of vocabulary about horses when it comes to riding and taking care of them.

Have any of you read the book? What did you think?

Disclosure: The Girl received a copy of The Trouble With Being a Horse from The Cadence Group for review purposes. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.

© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.