The Enchanted Horse

Winner of the 1993 Smarties Young Judges' Prize, this Young Lion book is specially for newly confident readers. Irina has a lonely existence working hard on her parents' isolated farm. Having no brothers, sisters or friends, she lavishes loving care on Bella, the wooden horse she persuades her father to buy from a junk shop. Slowly, the horse comes alive and takes Irina for ecstatic moonlit rides through the snow - until the wild horses entice Bella away. Anna Massey's precise narrative voice conveys the rigours of Irina's life, yet she reserves warmth for the adventures and the happy ending.