Trot with Me: Noni the Pony by Alison Lester

NONI THE PONY IS SHINY AND FAT.

HER BEST FRIENDS ARE DAVE DOG AND COCO  CAT.

Noni is the pony that every boy and girl would want to bring home. She loves to dance and gallop for the entertainment of the cows, ducks and hens, but her favorite fun is playing chase and hide-and-seek with her friends Coco and Dave. Coco even gets to go for a trot on Noni’s back.

But Noni is not just a fair-weather friend. If their day ever turns wet and gray, well, Noni has tales to liven up the day. She almost never frets or even has a fright...

BUT ONE IN A WHILE, SHE GETS SPOOKED IN THE
NIGHT!”

Well, who doesn’t? But when Noni snuggles up with her friends, what can go wrong?

THEN NONI THE PONY SLEEPS ALL NIGHT LONG.

Noted for her realistic illustrations of horses in Running with the Horses and Quicksand Pony, the admittedly Horse Crazy author-illustrator Alison Lester turns her talents this time to the youngest of horse fanciers in her newest, Noni the Pony (Beach Lane Books, 2012). Here Lester’s simple rhyming verse trots along on the page with as much zest as her subject, and her stylized drawings of this dappled equine move with an easy gait to tell the story of this pony’s playful day. Lester’s big-eyed pinto is sweet and perky as a pony should be, and the artist alternates a bright white background with varied full-color bleeds so that each page appears fresh and full of fun. Noni is a pony that every little horse lover can keep (with no stalls to sweep!).