Tender Mercies by Vicki Watson a Book Review

(Kaitlyn Pintor) 

Horses are amazing animals. They can be a real source of comfort on the road to healing for many people. I was moved to tears when I learned about my cousin Kaitlyn Pintor who suffers from a pain condition and found some relief while caring for horses at Hoof Beats in California. You can read and listen to her story below.

My cousin Kaitlyn finds relief from her pain in the comfort of horses

But who cares for the horses who are destined to be discarded?

Vicki Watson explores the world of horse rescue

 in her newest fictional book Tender Mercies.

Our favorite homeschooled girls Carrie and Rosie are back!

Homeschooling and horses!

Life lessons, Christian faith, adventure!

In the fourth book in the Sonrise Stable series, Vicki Watson pens a story that follows a small newborn foal. The reader is introduced to the foal from its own perspective from its first moments with its mom and being taken away from her to being rescued by a wonderful horse rescue farm called Last Chance Corral to being adopted. Written from the perspective of the little foal at times the reader gets to not only learn about how and why horses are rescued but to see how a small foal taken from his mother might feel. This book opens the readers eyes to some of the horrible ways that humans can be cruel to animals. A cat who is speared with an arrow is one particular chapter that really drove the message home as Grandma  quotes Proverbs 12:10 on page 73, "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel".  Bible scripture, footnotes throughout, and wonderful black and white sketches make this an exciting learning adventure for any young horse loving child to read.

My girls and I have so enjoyed reading these stories

 about two young homeschooled girls and their love for horses.

You can read my reviews of Vicki's other books here:

Carrie and Bandit Book Two

Clothed With Thunder Book Three

Author, Vicki Watson

"The Sonrise Stable series combines my love of God and horses in stories that I hope will help children learn more about both." 

To learn more about Vicki click the link below.

About the Author- Click Here

Follow Vicki on Twitter!

Watch a wonderful intro to the book below.

Go on over and pick up your very own copy of Tender Mercies at one of these sites!

ISBN: 978-0-9847242-3-9| List Price: $8.95 from Vicki's website or $9.86 on Amazon 

I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Clothed With Thunder by Vicki Watson Book Review, Gift Ideas, and Lapbook Horse Study

I had the chance to review one of Vicki Watson's new books Carrie and Bandit and I couldn't wait to read the next book in the Sonrise Stable series with my girls.

INTRODUCING.....

Sonrise Stable: Clothed With Thunder

This is Book 3 in a Series of 4 from the Sonrise Stable series.

A little bit about the book from the website...

"After sitting through a 4-H demonstration on the evolution of the horse, Rosie and Carrie are determined to present the arguments for creation at the club’s next meeting. The demonstration proves harder to put together than they imagined as everyone offers the girls their opinions. The lessons Rosie learns about creation extend into her life in surprising ways as she faces her old adversary, Billy King, who cheated her out of her first trophy with her pony, Scamper."

About the Author: Vicki Watson

My love of horses began when a teenage neighbor offered me my first ride, on the back of her horse. From my 8-year-old perspective, it seemed like the biggest horse in the world. From that moment on, I was addicted. Horses were to become a very important part of my life, although I never could have imagined, at the time, how much God would teach me about Himself and my relationship to Him through these wonderful animals.

The Sonrise Stable series combines my love of God and horses in stories that I hope will help children learn more about both. I have a vision for ten initial books in the series, taking the main characters through one year. Beyond that I'll see where God leads me.

I have been blessed with three daughters and homeschooled each of them through high school. I enjoy trail riding my Rocky Mountain mare, Nikki, hiking, photography, and playing guitar. I work from home as a computer programmer and enjoy the variety and flexibility that allows.

Here is a fantastic trailer to the book. It is very informative and presents wonderful illustrations on the design of horses and how they could not have evolved.

                                    

My Thoughts:

My girls and I were excited to receive the next book in the Sonrise Stable series. This book picks up where the last book left off leaving us delighted to learn how the grandmother was healing from her trail riding accident. This book also jumps right into a heated discussion when the two homeschooled girls, Rosie and Carrie have to sit through a 4-H presentation that focused on evolution. I thought the author did a wonderful job weaving truth into the story as we follow the girls and their progress in presenting their own clever 4-H presentation. There are several life lessons learned as the girls are involved in their parent's decision to attend an auction to buy a new farm and Rosie learns to overcome some hard feelings against an old enemy. The end of the book gives great definitions to dive deeper into the topic of horses and how they are clearly designed by God. The author also gives a website where the reader can learn even more about creation truths. I would recommend this book for any young girl who loves Jesus and horses! Such a great little book!

Oh, and if you check out the Sonrise Stable website you'll see they sell t-shirts and jewelry to go along with the books! Last year I bought their heart shaped locket like the one in the Carrie and Bandit book. I think this necklace would be a great gift to go along with this book if someone were to gift the book to a young girl.

It's labeled as "Blue Ribbon Necklace" and you have to get to the end of the story to know why it is such a fitting necklace to go along with this book! Sorry, I just can't give you anymore details...you have to buy the book yourself! 

Or this t-shirt would make a great gift too!

Purchase your copy today directly from Sonrise Stable here or Amazon.

Like Sonrise Stable Books on Facebook here.

Follow on Twitter here.

You can also subscribe to Vicki's Youtube channel here.

And a homeschooling side note: (because we homeschoolers are always ready to take this to the next level), I found this great little lapbook on sale at Currclick through Free Homeschool Deals just as we were finishing this book. The discount may have expired but at $8 it is quite an in depth lapbook study of horses and worth the price.

Topics include:

All About Horses, Safety on Horses, The Colorings of Horses, Weaning a Foal, Caring for a Horse, Measuring a Horse: “Hands,” The Stall, Accessories For A Horse, Branding, Cowhands, Roundups, Horse Fun Fact, Requires 2 folders.

  Just click this link to get your own!

I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

Carrie and Bandit by Vicki Watson Book 2 in Sonrise Stable Series

Christian Horse Books For Children

I have been reading and reviewing a lot of great inspiring Christian books recently but when I found that I had the chance to review a Christian book written for homeschooling families about horses I jumped at the chance to be on the review team!
I had the opportunity to review the second book in the series of Sonrise Stable: Carrie and Bandit by Vicki Watson.

"The Sonrise Stable series is the heartwarming, continuing story of an extended homeschooling family as they live, learn, and love together. Mixing adventure, life lessons, and realistic horse experiences, the series is a must for readers who enjoy family values, Christian faith, and, of course, horses!"

Carrie and Bandit continues where Rosie and Scamper left off.

Carrie can't believe it—she has a horse of her own and is only weeks away from being adopted by the most loving family she's ever known. But Bandit is harder to manage than she first imagined—and the adoption might not go as smoothly as she thought either. When a bad decision jeopardizes everything, Carrie learns what it means to be forgiven and truly loved.

Scriptural themes: Our adoption as children of God, Romans 8:14-17

Read an excerpt from Carrie and Bandit

My Thoughts:

My daughters and I really loved this book, the second in the series. I loved the fact that the girls in the story were homeschooled and my own daughters could relate to them. My daughters also love horses but we do not own a horse. The author, Vicki Watson weaves her real experiences with riding and training horses right into the stories so we found it was a lot of fun to learn more about horses as the story unfolded!

I also loved the story line in this book. Carrie is preparing to be adopted into a new family. Just as Carrie can compare adopting a new horse to her own adoption into a new family, we could compare the book and being adopted into God's family through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!

There is an important part of the story that occurs, I won't give it away here, but this really impacted my daughter. She is only five but could relate to the sin that was committed. Being able to read about a character's flaws and how the circumstances are resolved Biblically and lovingly really helped my daughter to see that everyone makes mistakes but we can be forgiven!

I was checking out the Sonrise Stable website and I saw that there were some fun contests my daughters could enter and that they also sell jewelry to go along with the books!

I am thinking of purchasing this necklace to go along with this book for my daughter. This necklace plays an important part in the book and I know it will have significant meaning to my daughter as she was really impacted by this story.

This book is a great read. Young girls ages 8-12 would have a wonderful time reading this on their own. My girls are five and three so I read the book to them but it this made our reading time all the more enjoyable. A good Christian, homeschooling tale about horses and adoption into God's Kingdom!

Here we are reading Carrie and Bandit.

I think this book would make a wonderful Christmas gift when bundled with a piece of jewelry too!

Sonrise Stable Website

Follow Sonrise Stables on Twitter.

Purchase the book here or at Amazon.

ISBN: 978-0984724215 | List Price: $9.95 | Format: Softcover | Page Count: 149

I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.