3 out of 4 stars
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An offering in children’s fiction, The Gift by Rebecca J. Hubbard is a simple story about an eleven-year-old girl named Pip, her new horse named Buck, and how the two become friends. It was published in July 2015 and is available in both paperback and e-format.
The book is divided into two sections (my ePub comes in at 66 pages). The first is entitled “Pip,” and is told in first person POV by Pip. The second section is entitled (as you might guess) “Buck,” and is the same story as Pip’s, only told in first person POV by Buck.
Pip is excited to get “the coolest gift in the world” as a birthday present – a horse. He is “a scrawny, brown colt with a black mane” and “a white star on his forehead.” This seems to fulfill two wishes of Pip: she wanted a horse and also a best friend. Well, she has her horse, and she is sure that he will effectuate the second half of the equation. When she notices a mark shaped like a dollar sign on his hip, she names him Buck. She climbs onto the pasture fence and calls him, but he simply ignores her. Disappointed, she returns to the house, where her father gives her some helpful advice: “Friendship always takes work,” he tells her.
Thus goes Pip’s story. Over the course of several days, she tries various strategies to try to get Buck to notice and like her. She tries calling him, giving him candy, approaching him, backing away, and just sitting on the grass nearby. But Buck either ignores her or walks away. Poor, frustrated Pip consults with (or complains to) her father each day, and he gives her helpful advice. His remarks, however, are not aimed so much at specific things she can do to win Buck’s friendship and affection, but rather emphasize that friendship isn’t automatic and is something that takes effort. It is important to try to see things from Buck’s perspective. This is, in fact, the main theme of the story.
The second half of the book relates these same events from Buck’s point of view. He has been separated from his horse friends and also feels lonely. He wants a friend, too. But he doesn’t understand what the “tall, skinny girl with a black mane” wants. She mostly annoys him, sometimes frightens him, and he avoids her.
The narrative technique of relating the same simple events from two different perspectives is interesting and insightful. As mentioned, the main theme of the story is that it takes time, effort, and understanding to make a friend. While Pip expects the horse to immediately like her, she learns that friendship is not automatic, and it is important to win the trust of the other person (or horse, as the case may be) and try to see things from the other’s point of view. The same story told from Buck’s perspective lends an interesting layer to the story. Buck has no one with which to consult, and mostly just reacts to what Pip does. So he is not learning to be a friend; the real lesson here comes from Pip’s side, the helpful advice she receives from her father, and what she learns about making a friend. The inclusion of the story from Buck’s point of view simply demonstrates that our assumptions about the motives and thoughts of others may not always be correct.
The writing is simple enough that children ages 6-10 can read and understand this book. It can be read in under an hour, reading at a moderate speed. The 18 illustrations by Krickett King are adequate, but not stellar. They are simple monochrome shaded drawings and somewhat cartoonish. I don’t think they will arrest the attention of young children for very long.
Buck’s story is written from the perspective of a horse, not a human, so there are things he necessarily doesn’t understand. He calls Pip’s hair a “mane,” her clothing (perhaps a jacket?) a “flappy thing,” a bridle a “dangly thing,” a zipper a “shiny thing,” and thinks Pip eats grass like he does. Laughter seems foreign to him, as he refers to it as “a rich sound that seemed to rise up from her knees.” At the same time, however, he knows farmhouses, fences, dogs, coyotes, mountain lions, owls, trailers, and pockets by name. He even refers to the pasture as “heaven.” This seemed a bit incongruous to me. I don’t suppose young children would be bothered by this, but it didn’t seem to be a completely consistent portrayal of Buck.
Because of the moderate amount of text and simple black-and-white illustrations (in my ebook, anyway), this may not be overly appealing to young children. I’m not sure the main take-away lesson will be obvious enough to children 6-8 years old, so this may be a book better suited for parents to read and discuss with their children. I like the moral of the story and think it is a worthwhile subject for discussion. This book could be a catalyst for a dialogue between parents and their children about the importance of working to be a good friend and not assuming that we know what others are thinking and feeling.
I liked the story but didn’t love it. The illustrations are not top-quality and attention-grabbing, and there are (for me) some inconsistencies in the portrayal of Buck. But overall, The Gift is a pleasant story with a good moral and no objectionable material at all. It’s certainly suitable for young children. I give The Gift 3 out of 4 stars, and recommend it to parents of children 6-10 years old as something they could read and discuss together.
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The Gift
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