I hadn’t meant to blog about this book but I had to share the message because I think it’s powerful.
This was actually a book I placed on hold, thinking it a mere pony book (and my girls like most love ponies)! But the message turned out to be anything but simple.
It’s the story of a girl who has dreamed all her life of owning a pony. So, she works all summer in order to attend the Chincoteague auction so she can buy a wild pony. She travels to the auction with her mom and she bids on every pony but is outbid by everyone. She slowly realizes she doesn’t have enough money to buy a pony and starts to cry. The woman next to her says, “Don’t give up. Keep calling out your bid. Persistence pays off,” and she hands her $20. Then everyone around her starts handing her dollars.
She has enough money to buy the last pony auctioned which is the one she actually wanted.
Here’s the best part:
“I have a lot of work to do,” the girl tells her mom. “I have to save all of my money and come back next year.”
“Isn’t one pony enough?” her mother asks.
“No. I am going to give my money to another girl so that she can buy a pony of her own.”
Now, I’ve read A LOT of kids’ books but this is the first one I’ve read where paying it forward is the central theme. It’s so simply taught that even the littlest ones will catch the message of the importance of helping others just like you have been helped.
God is everywhere, isn’t He?
This book is by Susan Jeffers who is an excellent author and story-teller. We’ve read many of her books but this one is by far the best I’ve read. In her forward, Jeffers says this is based on a true story she witnessed when she was at Pony Penning Day in Chincoteague. This just makes this story even better.
It touches my heart when kids help other kids and with all the negativity out there this is the kind of story I want my kids to hear over and over again.