In the first entry of
Liana-Melissa Allen’s Horse Valley Adventures children’s book series, three equine
protagonists lose their home to a fire and must depend upon themselves while
wandering a forest and defending against an antagonistic donkey that wanders
around wrecking other animals’ homes, the story based on “The Three Little
Pigs.” The cover art depicts the three eponymous horses wandering along a path
with their supply-laden wagons while the titular donkey bully secretly gazes at
them from behind a bush on one side of the illustration, with the visual style
being general cartoony and liberal with typical animal anatomy.
The story itself opens
with the three chief horses, named Lax, Max, and Jack, who inhabit the “magical”
land of Horse Valley, living in a home near a dark forest, which they and other
animals avoid due to its inhabitance by an asinine bully. The equine trio is
returning home from the market when they smell smoke from a fire that engulfs
their residence, likely caused from lightning from a storm that occurred in the
morning. The first illustration within the book depicts the horses looking upon
the flames fearfully, accompanied by a nameless bluebird also seeming fearful
due to the fire.
The equines attempt to
salvage items from their incinerating home, although they err in doing so, the
following illustration depicting them and the aforementioned avian evading the
flames, although they manage to save some of their possessions as the fire
worsens, the next piece of art showing them inside their burning house, where Lax
looks the most fearful of his equivalently-stressed companions. Fortunately,
they get out of their former home before its complete disintegration, with Lax
sustaining some scrapes from crashing through one of its walls, the next
artwork depicting the three horses in the middle of a rainstorm, Jack and Lax
sprawled out on the grass while Max looks on, the bluebird, seeming somewhat
sore, appearing as well.
Max then suggests that he
and his equine brethren move into the woods and erect separate abodes, although
Jack recalls the antagonistic donkey and insists they remain together, the subsequent
illustration depicting the horses in an argument while their house burns in the
background, the bird continuing to appear. The storm appears to be over in the
next artwork, the horses bedraggled and having agreed to separate. Lax is first
to construct his new residence, although he yearns to watch television instead;
he believes he can build a home out of nearby bushes, not wishing to do much
work.
The next piece of art
depicts Lax’s resultant residence, appearing a little like a green human head
with two window “eyes,” the bully donkey peeking out from the woods near an unnamed
rabbit, the unidentified bluebird and another red-and-yellow avian appearing as
well. Then, as he wishes, he watches TV in his new home, with a humorous reference
to the “Horse-Pirates of the Caribbean.” The asinine adversary taunts Lax from
outside his bush home, kicking it asunder with a single blow, the horse injured
by the thorns from the shrubberies, as shown by the next art showing the
wrecked residence and the triumphant bully in the middle of a kick, the
nameless rabbit looking on helplessly. The following piece shows a crying Lax
stuck in the remnants of his bush abode while the bully laughs haughtily, the
rabbit expressing his anger.
In the meantime, Max
seeks materials for his own fortress of solitude, the story indicating his
interest in playing videogames while eating, finding old branches and sticks to
serve as components for his own residence. The following illustration shows his
resultant spiky-looking residence, upon which he looks happily while the bully
donkey spies on him from behind a nearby tree. Once Max enters his new home to
play videogames and eat, the asinine adversary demands entry, which the horse
refuses, the next art showing a nervous Max working on both a lollipop and a
videogame while the donkey taunts him from outside, another unidentified
animal, in this case a squirrel, looking on.
Consequentially, the
bully kicks Max’s residence asunder, the following artwork depicting him doing
so, the horse caught in the mix and falling into the sticks that once formed
his house, the next illustration depicting his legs sticking out of the mess,
while two unidentified birds look on and the donkey laughs, having stolen the
equine’s lollipop. While this occurs, the oldest of the horses, Jack, too seeks
materials for his intended abode, in his instance stones that he decides to mix
with honey, mud, and water for a sturdier home, the next piece of art showing
him happily looking at a pile of rocks in the woods, the unnamed bluebird from
before seeming content too.
The bees in the following
art don’t seem very happy as Jack purloins their honey, the bluebird chased by
a pair as their brethren eye the horse, appearing scared. Mercifully, the
equine is successful in his endeavor and mixes the gathered materials to form
his home’s walls, using an old log to produce a sturdy door, the text
indicating he received some stings from the bees. The next illustration depicts
Jack erecting his residence while bees appear miffed from stealing their honey,
the bluebird appearing to aid him while another unidentified avian looks on.
Jack ultimately enters
his new residence to fulfill his reading hobby, and unsurprisingly, the donkey
arrives to taunt him, although his hooves fail to rend the sturdy door, and
demands ingress that the horse naturally denies. The subsequent piece of art
depicts Jack inside his residence reading, along with the nameless bluebird,
while the bully appears miffed from the injury inflicted by his failure to
knock down the door, a bee and a rabbit looking on. Thus, the donkey attempts
to destroy the abode, failing in his endeavor, the next artwork showing him
exhausted by his attempts while the mentioned rabbit points and laughs.
The unsuccessful bully
attempts to enter Jack’s residence via defenestration, but gets stuck halfway
and implores the horse for mercy that he quickly receives, promising that he’ll
cease his bullying, receiving several beestings during his struggle, the
following illustration showing the insects’ assaults while Jack and the
bluebird triumphantly look on at the stuck donkey. Then the horse kicks the
bully out of the window, the next art showing him about to do so, and the piece
afterward showing Jack and his avian companion looking at the slumped and
injured donkey, whom he recruits to aid in his search for his brothers.
Lax is the first one he
finds, the accompanying illustration showing him nursing his wounds from the
thorns of his former home. Max is next, the following piece depicting Jack and
the bully tugging him out of the sticks of his own failed abode, Lax looking on
nervously. Afterward, Jack invites his brothers and the donkey under the
condition that the former help around the house and not fulfill their
television-watching and videogaming hobbies too frequently, to which they
agree, the next artwork depicting the equines and their new friend the donkey
all happy.
The story concludes with
the donkey and the two younger horses helping Jack clean his house and prepare
dinner, the final illustration of the main text depicting Max playing a guitar,
Jack holding a book, the donkey playing a piano, and Lax dancing. A smaller
illustration appears after the mention of the author’s other works and shows an
orange and gray horse reading. In the end, the tale is a nice twist on that of
the three little pigs, given its successful substitute of other animalian
species, with plenty of humorous illustrations and the rare popular culture
reference, being highly recommended for younger audiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment