At one time or another, nearly every kid dreams of having his or her own horse. Here are some great horse stories that are not too long for preschool storytime. For a craft, I took a simple horse coloring page and turned it into a stick puppet, adding real yarn for the mane and tail to give it some dimension.
Greenfield, Eloise. ON MY HORSE. A young African American boy describes riding on a horse in this very simple rhyming story.
Asch, Frank. GOODNIGHT HORSEY. A request for a bedtime glass of water results in a fantastic horsey ride with a surprise ending.
Doherty, Berlie. SNOWY. Rachel wants to bring Snowy to school for pet day, but the horse has to pull the canal barge as part of the family’s business.
Jeffers, Susan. ALL THE PRETTY HORSES. The bedtime lullaby is depicted in this very short but memorable picture book.
Jeffers, Susan. MY PONY. A little girl imagines having her own horse, a pony named Silver.
Mullin, Patricia. ONE HORSE WAITING FOR ME. In this rhyming counting story, different types of horses are depicted, including rocking horses and a merry go round.
London, Jonathan. IF I HAD A HORSE. A girl imagines riding a horse in the jungle and through her town. A few Spanish words are included in the text.
London, Jonathan. MUSTANG CANYON. Little Pinto, a colt, runs with the other wild mustangs in Monument Valley.
Bemelmans, Ludwig. MADELINE IN LONDON. Madeline and her schoolmates give Pepito a horse for his birthday.
Chandra, Deborah. A IS FOR AMOS. A little girl rides her horse Amos in this imaginative alphabet story.
Brett, Jan. FRITZ AND THE BEAUTIFUL HORSES. Fritz the pony saves the local children when the bridge is damaged.
Goble, Paul. THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES.
The Caldecott-winning Native American folktale about a girl who would rather live with horses than people.