Recently I had the chance to read Ariel's Journey (The Ice Horse Adventures, Book 1)
written by Doug Kane and Christy Wood. I’ve just gotten through the book myself as I like to read through stories that are a little more ‘mature’ for my daughter than usual to see if it’s something she’ll understand and enjoy.
I do have to say that even I enjoyed this book very much, it’s a little longer than any of the
chapter books we’ve already started with so it will take more than just a few nights to get through, but I believe it’s something she’s going to enjoy reading.Ariel’s Journey takes place 800 years ago in an Icelandic village that is at war. The daughter of a chief is in need of being rescued, and a group of girls need to learn to work together to save the village and the daughter. Through the learning, action and adventures these girls have, they also bond with each other and their horses.
The book is a little for the older crowd 9 – 12 yrs, and for my daughter there is a bit of wonder that she’s going to have, but for the older girls, this is definitely a read they can’t do without, and it’s a nice change to the usual young readers books that you’ll find out there.
You will find that the book uses a lot of Icelandic terms, and I for one was a little confused with that at first, but they do provide you with a glossary of terms and how to pronounce the words as well in the beginning of the book, I however think this is a bit much for my daughter, and could also take away from the story when older girls are reading if they have to turn back to the glossary to know what the word is or how it’s pronounced.
This book is a bit confusing also to those of us who aren’t really into the ‘horse’ lifestyle, there are a few confusing terms and things that I really had no idea what they meant. So if you know a young reader that’s very much into horses this is probably a great book for them. The love story could also have been toned down a bit or taken out completely, I found it actually took away from the story, but teen girls will probably enjoy it.
About the Author:
Doug Kane was born in New York City, graduated from the US Merchant Marine Academy, and has traveled the world. Today he has hand Icelandic horse farm in Amherst, OH. He is very involved in the Icelandic Horse community and a member in the Icelandic Horse Congress and participates in many Icelandic horse events. Christy Wood was born in Oregon. One of her first jobs was working at Canyonview Horse Camp in Silverton Oregon. Her experience as a free-lance writer includes work on a celebrity cookbook and covering the Atlanta Olympics.
You can check out the book for yourself by visiting Amazon.com
No comments:
Post a Comment