Jigsaw Pony (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jigsaw Pony Deborah Stevenson Haas, Jessie Jigsaw Pony; illus. by Ying-Hwa Hu. Greenwillow, 2005 [128p] Library ed. ISBN 0-06-078250-1$15.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-078245-5$14.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 2-4 Long since outgrown by his last young owner, Jigsaw the pony serendipitously finds a new home with the Shaw family, where twins Kiera and Fran consider him the fulfillment of their pony-yearning dreams. He's even reason enough for the ever-bickering sisters to civilly negotiate their rival claims—to his attention, to riding privileges, even to his name—but they begin to worry that they're doing something wrong when they can't seem to sustain his enthusiasm for any of the riding events they love. As usual, Haas deftly hits the highlights of the pony-book genre, keeping the situation plausible and the participants responsible (Kiera and Fran are competent caretakers—and riders, having learned on Runaway Radish, BCCB 7/01) while still hitting the sweet spot of young equestrians' modest fantasies [End Page 137] ("It seemed silly to go to school when they had a pony in their backyard for the first time ever"). The book gently stretches realism by allowing the narration to share Jigsaw's point of view, but he's comfortingly basic in his priorities of food and affection and believable in his pony experience ("Jigsaw was an expert on girls. He knew these were good ones"). The text's accessible simplicity doesn't detract from its charm; novice readers will delight in Jigsaw's visit to school (for show and tell, of course) and approve the girls' championing of their new four-legged friend even when it turns out his considerable age means he's "a pony you do things with" rather than "a pony you do things on." Final illustrations not seen. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois