Iris and Walter: True Friends

Elissa Haden Guest has created an easy to read book that is gentle, poetic, and filled with great lessons on thinking through your problems and working to solve them. I loved this book from the first beautiful sentence, "Iris dreamed of riding Rain over green meadows, down a path of pines, straight into the sparkling stream." This book is split into chapters and is essentially two stories, one of Iris's desire to ride the horse Rain, one about Walter's issue with his teacher giving him a nickname he doesn't like at school. Both children solve their problems with the help of one another and a lot of thinking. I like that is a pretty simple, realistic book, but is filled with evocative writing and illustrations.

Walter helps Iris ride a horse named Rain, and Iris helps Walter by giving him an idea about a problem he is having with his teacher at school. The two school kids are good friends and this is ultimately a series about friendship. I like how the two help each other and care for each other. The book is valuable simply for that. We need good examples in our lives of nice people helping each other and caring for each other.

The illustrations are wonderful. I thought they were done with watercolor paint because there is the same effect, but apparently they are made from pen and ink (on keacolor paper). They are delightful in how they're so fluid and carefree.

Loved it except for one thing. These children, about age 7, are messing around with a horse with no adult supervision, no saddle, no helmet?! Yes I know that in the old days small children rode horses heedlessly, but they grew up with them. Iris is a city girl; she doesn't know what she's getting into.

A little girl moves from the city to the country and thinks it's very boring until meeting a friend!