This is a lovely story that makes this book a beautiful gift for a horse-loving girl or her loving parents. What makes the book remarkable is not the donkey or the illustrations, but the story of how the love of family can overcome obstacles.

Katherine Pearl Baker—“Kip” for short—is the only child on her family’s rural peach farm. She longs for a pet to ease the loneliness. Unfortunately, her father has an angry opposition to all animals—horses in particular. Why he dislikes them is a confounding mystery.

Hiding in the woods on the Fourth of July, Kip encounters a bedraggled donkey with one eye and a floppy ear. Immediately smitten and compelled to protect him, she feeds him biscuits and takes him home. When it is discovered the donkey fled an abusive owner, Kip’s father finally relents, reluctantly allowing him to stay.

Kip is elated when her grandfather agrees to help her foster the donkey, who she names “Liberty Biscuit,” along with two emaciated horses removed by the local sheriff from the same home, as the cruelty case goes to court. A court order to return the horses, and even worse, Kip’s beloved Liberty Biscuit, to the owner who had starved and beaten them, throws Kip’s world into turmoil. She knows she must find a way to keep them, or she will have betrayed the best friend she has ever had.

Written by Melani Sue Bowles

Paperback, 224 pages. 5.8 x 0.5 x 8.8 inches, ISBN-10: 1646011252, ISBN-13: 978-1646011254

Reading age: Ages 9 - 12