I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember. There was a point that I went through a stage where I would only read horse books, but thankfully I got introduced to YA novels. While I read a ton of books as a kid here are a few that have really stuck with me since I’ve grown up. Disclaimer: I will try not to make this list all horsie, but I'm making no promises.
CLIP CLOP BY NANCY HOAG
This book is the first one that I can remember reading. The copy that I had of this book was fairly old and tattered. I think it used to be my uncle’s before it became mine. Anyways, this book was about a young horse that was told he was getting his first pair of shoes. He fantasizes about what his shoes will look like and he pictures himself wearing some shoes that the people around him wear until he is shown what his actual shoes look like. I was obsessed with horses (and still am lol) at a young age, and this book just furthered my obsession with them.
THE MAGIC TREE HOUSE SERIES BY MARY POPE OSBORNE
This series was one of the only series I read that didn’t have much to do with horses. I got really hooked on these books after going to the library and having the librarian recommend them to me when I was looking to step up to a chapter book. I don’t know exactly how many of them I read, but it was a LOT. These books transported me to a bunch of different places and times in history. I particularly liked the books set in Ancient Egypt and Pompei
ANIMAL ARK SERIES BY LUCY DANIELS
This isn't a very well-known series, but I can always remember getting those Scholastic pamphlets from school were you could order books from and asking my parents to buy this series for me. This series follows the daughter of veterinarians and her friend as they try to help animals. And each book follows a different animal like cats, dogs, horses, etc. While this series wasn't specifically about horses, there were some books that did follow them so I collected all the horse books I could find, but I did also get some of the other ones as well.
WINNIE THE HORSE GENTLER SERIES BY DANDI DALEY MACKALL
This series follows a girl named Winnie who just moved to rural Ohio and wants to get a horse. She ends up rescuing a horse and being able to keep it and train it along with being able to train a bunch of other horses throughout the series. These books are what seriously got me wanting to train horses just like Winnie.
THOROUGHBRED SERIES BY JOANNA CAMPBELL
In this series a girl has to move from their Thoroughbred race farm to another where she meets a foal that has everything stacked against her. This girl takes a chance on the little filly and the series follows the both of them as they face challenges at the race track and at the farm. I maybe read the first 10-15 books, but after that they start splitting off to other side characters and eventually the main characters daughter. One day I would like to go back through a completely read the series.
THE SADDLE CLUB SERIES BY BONNIE BRYANT
If you loved horses and have not heard of this series you may have been living under a rock. This series even had an amazing TV show based off of it. These books follow a trio of girls that love horses and horseback riding at a stable called Pine Hollow. I think there are just over a hundred books in the series plus a spin-off series about the girls in the later teen years and special editions and I own them all. My mom found this company that sent out 4-5 of the books in the series plus a little goodie every few weeks or so until eventually you have all the books. So I guess you could say it was my first book subscription box lol.
HEARTLAND SERIES BY LAUREN BROOKE
This is another series about a girl who trains horses. After the tragic loss of her mother, Amy Fleming copes with her loss by continuing in her mothers footsteps and trains problem horses. This is another book series that also has a TV show, and it's still airing to this day. I only read about the first 7 or so of these books, but I have almost all of them.
THE RANGER'S APPRENTICE SERIES BY JOHN FLANAGAN
I was recommended this series right as I was getting out of my horse phase by my pastor. He had read them and loved them so he thought that I may as well. And boy was he right! This series follows a boy named Will who is in training to be a Ranger, which is essentially a spy for the kingdom. Will is trained in battle and surveillance, but soon he finds out that there is a deep threat to the kingdom brewing. I loved all the action in this series. Plus there isn't a big romance that overpowers everything.
THE PHANTOM STALLION SERIES BY TERRI FARLEY
This series was set out west and followed a girl named Samantha as she returns to her fathers cattle ranch following a bad fall of her horse Blackie. Since that day her beloved horse Blackie has been missing. As she fights to fit back into her father's ranch, she learns the fate of a mysterious mustang-who may or may not be Blackie-rests in her hands, she has to learn to mount up and be a real cowgirl. This series started my love of mustangs and all things Old West. Still to this day I want to own a ranch and save a few mustangs.
ANIMORPHS SERIES BY K.A. APPLEGATE
I'm pretty sure these were my first sci-fi books that I had ever read. This series follows a group of kids that encounter aliens that are trying to take over the planet. These kids have the power to morph into animals and they fight to protect the world they know. I got the first couple books in this series from a book sale at my library, but I never ended up getting the whole series nor have I read all of them.
From this point on I started reading more and more YA books. I wished that I had read a few more non-horse books while I was growing up, but I can't complain too much. I'm just now realizing it, but what is up with all the series that end up having like 40+ books? Most of the series I just listed have an outragous amount of books in them. Either way, it ment more reading material for younger me.
I hope y'all enjoyed this little peek into my reading of my childhood. I hope it lets you get a bit of an idea of who I am as a reader and why I love the books and things that I do today as these books really shaped me as a reader and a person.
What are some of the books that you read as a kid? Did you read any of the books that I did?
