While looking at books by Laura Numeroff, I discovered she had a horse version of Cinderella. So today, Fairy Tales in Different Cultures meets Virtual Book Club for Kids. We are presenting Ponyella by Laura Numeroff and Nate Evans.
While I read the story the second time, we acted it out with some of Hazel's toys. We couldn't find her newer white horse, so we used one with a broken leg and improvised in a few places.
Ponyella was a beautiful white horse who loved to jump and run in the field all day. One day she noticed a sign on the fence and soon her owners had sold the farm and Ponyella. The new owners brought their two ponies with them. The new ponies did not like Ponyella. The new ponies caused such problems that the owners put Ponyella in a stall behind the barn and only let her out to do work. One day the two new ponies noticed a fancy car driving by with Princess Penelope in it. She was going to judge the most important horse show of the year. They all wanted to enter, but the other two horses laughed at Ponyella saying she was too ugly and dirty to enter. The day of the horse show, the two other ponies were taken in nice trailers and Ponyella was left behind. She began to cry. Then an old mare appeared and asked why she was crying.
The old mare was her Fairy Godmare. She used her magic to clean up Ponyella, turn an apple into a trailer and a mouse into the driver. Ponyella was off to the show. In the final round of the show the horses had to jump. All the horses were missing the last and highest jump. The other two ponies from Ponyella's farm missed all the jumps. When it was Ponyella's turn she was the only one to jump the last jump. Princess Penelope came over award her the prize, but the clock was striking noon and the magic would be gone at the twelfth bong. Ponyella ran away and lost one of her diamond horse shoes.
Princess Penelope came to the farm the next day to find the horse whose hoof fit the diamond horseshoe. The other two tried to force their big hooves on it, but it did not fit. Then Ponyella jumped over them and chased Princess Penelope's car. She stopped and the shoe fit Ponyella. Princess Penelope used her savings to buy Ponyella and brought her home.
Have any activities or crafts to go with a book by Laura Numeroff? You can link it up here.
