Horse Picture Books: A Roundup For All Ages

We are never too old for picture books, especially picture books of horses. What could be more charming and delightful? When I taught middle school, on occasion, I read picture books to my “cool” middle school students. “Yay story time!” was a common refrain, showing the popularity of short books with colorful illustrations. So here’s a roundup for a young horse lover or for yourself. Happy reading!

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Enjoy these Horse Picture Books

J is for Justify by Lesley A.J. Bauman will delight Thoroughbred fans of all ages. Each letter of the alphabet has a vivid illustration of a race horse whose name starts with the letter and then a short poem about the horse. I was elated that T is for Tiznow, as that’s my horse Knight’s sire. Enjoy learning about remarkable racers from American Pharoah to Zenyatta.

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My Blue Ribbon Horse is adapted from Elizabeth Letts’ best-selling book titled The Eighty Dollar Champion. Do you know about Snowman, the show jumper saved at auction by Harry DeLeyer? The big white horse who most likely had been an Amish buggy horse prior to meeting DeLeyer wowed America with his jumping prowess. 

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Jump the Moon is the heartwarming true story of a woman who dreamed about her childhood pony and then set out to find her. Author Kathy Simmers was inspired to write the story which is based on her daughter. This one made me cry.

Simmers followed up Jump the Moon with her new release Posey’s Problem (and I think she’s on track to release more horse picture books). This one also made me cry. lol This one in particular because it’s the storyline of a pony who keeps changing hands before her riders outgrow her. I had thought of how sad it would be to outgrow a pony (I’ve only had horses), but Simmers’ sweet title game me a new perspective from the pony’s viewpoint.

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Pssst! If you grew up reading the works of Marguerite Henry, I hope you’ll devour my latest book, Marguerite, Misty and Me–the backstory of the real Misty pony and her beloved author/owner Marguerite.

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New from the creative behind the brand Pony Macaroni is Penelope and Macaroni by Pamela Breece. The art is beautiful and the whimsical storyline will perhaps inspire you to invite your best horse friend inside your home to help hang art and dine on carrots. (Fun fact: Marguerite Henry trained Misty of Chincoteague to come into her home. The pony would eat oats of a living room chair and supposedly never spill an oat!)

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Speaking of Marguerite Henry, Our First Pony is a sweet tale about twins who get a Shetland pony of their very own. Rich Rudish was illustrator of this 1984 title by the iconic horse book author. Although Our First Pony is out of print, you can still score used copies online. It’s not technically a picture book as it has more text and pages than a traditional picture book (64 pages), but it’s cute and worthy to be included in this list.

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A Storm of Horses is a title I snapped up this fall, as I’m on a mission to see the real painting The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur. So when I happened upon this horse picture book which tells Rosa’s story, I had to add it to my library. I didn’t realize what an artistic trailblazer Bonheur was. She studied anatomy books and she sketched based on looking at carcasses at local slaughterhouses. It reminded me about what I learned when I had a chance to connect with a passionate Wesley Dennis art collector, and see dozens of his original works.

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And a picture book list would just not be complete without something by Dr. Seuss. Have you ever read Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum? You just might like it. Rhyme away!

Your Turn: What horse picture books do you love? Please share in the comments.

Would you like a free ebook sampler of my horse books? CLICK HERE to grab excerpts from Marguerite, Misty and Me, Horses Adored and Men Endured, Strands of Hope and Unbridled Creativity.

If you hang out on social media, you can find my Thoroughbred Knight and me on Instagram and Facebook Come trot along with us!