posted on 06 Sep 2017

Storm Cloud by Jenny Oldfield, illustrated by Gary Blythe

This is the third book in the series about Kami, a young American girl who is crazy about horses. This time she is thrilled at being invited to spend the summer helping out at Wolf Ridge ranch in the mountains of Colorado run by the family of her best friend, Macy. She is made particularly welcome because Macy’s dad is recovering from a bad riding accident which caused him to break his back and so he is temporarily unable to help with the many physical tasks.

Although Kami feels a bit homesick at first, she is soon fully occupied in working on horseback as a cowgirl to round up cattle every day and grows in confidence so that she is soon thoroughly enjoying the experience. She loves all the different horses on the ranch but becomes especially fascinated by a young, restless dark brown colt and learns that his name is Storm Cloud. Her happy carefree summer holiday doing what she likes best seems perfect until, by chance she comes across Storm Cloud being whipped by Macy’s elder brother Wes. This is a dreadful scene but a crucial turning point in the story:

‘Wes raised the whip again and made it snake along the dusty ground. It flicked against Storm Cloud’s hooves and drove him crazy with panic. Storm Cloud reared up and crashed down against the high fence. Wes yelled at him in fury and whipped him on’.

 Kami is appalled and wrestles with her conscience as to whether she should say anything about what she has seen and decides that she has to intervene in some way. What happens next makes her feel even worse as it seems that the whole family is condoning this very cruel behaviour for a variety of puzzling reasons. All becomes clear eventually when it seems that this horse is bearing the brunt of blame for the accident that caused Macy’s dad to break his back.            

I would imagine that this action packed story would have great appeal to readers who crave adventure and independence, particularly if they like horses. I was never that keen on animal stories (or animals) as a child and must confess that the only horse that I have only ever read about was an abridged version of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. That fictional horse suffered at the hands of sadistic owners time after time and I can remember feeling both distressed and angry on his behalf. This little story reminded me of how important it is to make children aware about how animals are not always treated kindly – it is I think a good way of developing empathy. But most importantly this author is a skilful storyteller who paints a vivid word picture of the vast silent mountainous landscape. This and every one of the family members and the horses come alive further through the beautifully soft black and white pencil drawings by Gary Blythe throughout the book. 

This is another great addition to the Barrington Stoke list, publishers renowned for producing well designed books by the best authors and illustrators which make them accessible to all readers.  

Karen Argent

August 2017