Honey and The Valley of Horses

Honey and The Valley of Horses

by Wendy Orr

Published Allen and Unwin
ISBN 9781761068492

For ages 9 - 13.

The delightful story begins when four year old Honey and her baby sister Rumi's family still have their grandfathers ice cream van. Their grandfather loved what he did bringing happiness to children in the form of ice creams, but now he is no longer alive and their NanNan still wants to go on the adventure that they had planned.

Honey and Rum's Mumma and Papa decide they should all go together and they convert the old ice cream van so that they can travel comfortably.

There is space for everyone and so Rumi tell us there is plenty of storage to take food with them on their long journey and a special place for NanNan when it is time to go to sleep.

The family are well-quipped and they have their own power to so they can use their mobile phones and Mumma can work remotely.

All the family head off into the countryside as far as they could go after an illness swept through the world. They go into a magical valley, high in the mountains where it is filled with a herd of mysterious horses. The curious thing is once they cross the bridge it disappears behind them

Before long they realise they have been away from the city for seven years completely wrapped in paradise. Except they can't remember what ice cream tastes like, they see the big ice cream painted on the side of the van and even though their parents and NanNan try to explain, it doesn't help.

They're so busy enjoying themselves living in the bush amongst the animals and nature, it's almost a life of fantasy. What does matter is when their dad becomes ill and Honey realises that there must be other people outside of their immediate world that can help. Honey is resourceful, resilient and summons up enough courage to find away out to get help.

This is a delightful book with a little magic, happiness, scary times, fantasy and resourcefulness for 9 - 13 year olds.

The author, Wendy lives in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, and with her husband, is busy trying to restore their few acres of bush to its natural state as a home for wildlife. She grew up in Canada, France and the USA. Wendy was a compulsive reader from an early age and wrote stories throughout her childhood. In 1993 she resigned from her position as an occupational therapist to become a full-time writer. An hour later heard that her novel Leaving It To You had been shortlisted in the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Awards