Andi's Pony Trouble

Welcome to another day of Mia & Mommy's Book Blog!

Andi's Pony Trouble by Susan K. Marlow is the first book in the Circle C Beginnings series and is aimed at early chapter book readers. Andi is sure that because she is almost six that she is ready for a horse of her own. She's sick of riding "pokey hand-me-down pony" Coco who doesn't go any faster than a trot. When Andi's mom points out that Andi doesn't take very good care of Coco, forgetting to brush and feed him, meaning she's not quite ready yet for the responsibility of caring for a horse. Andi's brothers and sisters all tease her about her desire, leaving her feeling frustrated and left out. Cook's helper, Riley, is Andi's closest friend, even if at eight years old he is often "too big for his britches." Riley has a horse of his own named Midnight that Andi loves to ride whenever she can. SPOILERS! First Mia's review: The story was about a girl named Andi who had a pony named Coco, but really wanted a horse. Her pony was lost, but then she found her pony. On the morning of her birthday, her brother woke her up and brought her out to the barn where she found a baby horse that was her birthday present. My favorite part of the story was when she said that she loved Coco. At the beginning, she was treating her pony like it was a bag of garbage, and I did not like that. She didn't care about him at all. Then I got really mad at her for leaving Coco behind. I felt happy at the end for her pony and for Andi, and the baby horse. I learned that it's important to appreciate what you have. Now my review. Mia and I enjoyed reading this book together. We took turn reading the chapters to each other, it was written so that she could easily read the words, and there is a vocabulary list to teach readers any new words. Mia is right, at first Andi is very selfish and focused only on what she doesn't have, instead of focusing on Coco as a blessing. Mia was almost moved to tears twice at Andi's treatment of Coco. Andi learns a valuable lesson in the story, and so will young readers: that in times of trouble you can turn to God about anything, and He will listen. Andi discovers that you don't have to save prayers for at bedtime or in church. When she prays about Coco's disappearance, God hears and answers her prayer, giving her and readers new understanding about God and His love. Mia is already excited about starting the second book in the series, Andi's Indian Summer.

Thank you to Kregel Publications for providing me with a copy of this book for review!