[As an experiment last fall, I invited self-publishers to submit their best new titles for review. About a dozen heeded the call, and I am reviewing their books in this space.]

 

The Strength of Wild Horses; by Sandra Tayler; illus. by Angela Call. Tayler Corporation, 2014. 32.pp. ISBN 978-0-9835746-8. 12.95.

Amy, who resembles Pippi Longstocking by way of Tony Ross, has lots of great ideas but, like wild horses, they can run too fast. "And when the run was over, there was Amy, and the mess." The mess this time is that Amy has knocked a hole in the wall of the bedroom she shares with her sister. Although they don't always make the best use of the page space, the pictures are exuberant, with the relationship between Amy and her long-suffering teenaged sister Kari expressed beautifully and funnily simply through the girls' postures. The story (like its predecessor, Hold on to Your Horses) is purposive but lightened with humor, and impulsive youngsters will find in Amy a kindred spirit. R.S.

 

[This review may be distributed freely and excerpted fairly; credit to “Read Roger, The Horn Book Inc., www.hbook.com.]