Andi's Pony Trouble and Andi's Indian Summer are two new chapter books for your young horse-loving children from published author, Susan K. Marlow. You may remember her from the Circle C Adventures Series where Andi is a growing teen. Here we find her as a little thing, only six years old, in books perfect for your readers, ages 6-8.

In Andi's Pony Trouble we meet Andi at the dinner table. She is absolutely certain that she is old enough for her very own horse. She is tired of riding her "slowpoke" pony Coco. She is certainly frustrated when her mother and her older siblings (her brothers run the ranch) tell her that she is just too little. Andi makes it her goal to prove that she is grown-up enough, but her abilities are not quite what she thinks they are and she finds herself in a bit of trouble. She learns a valuable lesson about being thankful for what you have and a little about prayer too.

In Andi's Indian Summer we find Andi facing a different challenge--discerning fact from fiction when she meets real Indians! Andi and her eight year-old friend Riley head out for a ride on the open landscape of California 1874 and get lost. Andi learns that things are not always what she thinks they are. This was my favorite of the two books in the series so far.

Andi is your typical youngest child; eager to be as big as the biggest and definitely thinks she knows when she is ready for something. I think a lot of children are like this! She has an energetic bunch of older siblings and a patient mother to guide her through her mishaps. (She lost her father when she was five to a ranch accident.) She does not always have the most patient attitude towards her siblings, but they work together and she learns along the way.

Set on a busy ranch in the wild California countryside in the 1870's, these books are sure to hold your child's attention. As a teacher you will likely appreciate that words your children might not be familiar with are defined on a separate page and the section entitled, "A Peek Into the Past." As a history lover myself, I really enjoyed this section. Why did Andi and her friend Riley have such freedom to roam the countryside? Was this common then? She answers these kinds of questions. Throughout the books are the most delightful black and white illustrations. Many of these are available for download as coloring pages from the Circle C website. There are quite a few more books planned for this series and I fully expect these to be warmly welcomed by parents looking for wholesome reading for their younger children. Great job, Susan Marlow!

Product review by Kate Kessler, Product Reviews Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October, 2010