Release Date: June 18, 2024
Size: 5 x 8
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-173-9
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-57869-174-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024906634
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or at Ingram.

Synopsis

For fans of Black Beauty and A Horse Named Sky, here’s a new middle grade novel by award-winning author and former horse trainer Celia Ryker with illustrations by Kathy Connell. Big Guy is about a show horse who has big changes to face, and who learns that friendships can last beyond the time you share together.

Big Guy is a big horse dealing with big changes. His looks and talent have helped him win blue ribbons at the biggest horse shows in the country. But when old age and injury make him unfit for winning prizes, his owner retires him to a position as a school horse, giving riding lessons to children. At the school horse barn, Big Guy meets Shorty, Kaiser, Slippy and many other horses who teach him about running in wide open fields and being part of a herd. Uplifting, funny, and sweet, Big Guy is a simple story told from the horse’s point of view that reads like a night under the stars, or an afternoon racing to a hay field.

Praise

“Ryker’s breezy, good-natured story has its share of humor…Readers unfamiliar with equestrianism and horse care will pick up loads of details, including relevant terminology and specifics about what horses go through…Connell’s simple black-and-white sketches capture some of the best moments, as when Slippy makes his way to a snack regardless of the novice rider trying to lead him elsewhere. This remarkable story of friendship is a perfect showcase for exquisite animals.”

—Kirkus Reviews

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“Engaging, endearing, and downright charming…There’s something so timeless and special about this story of horses as told through the eyes of horses. It’s an ideal read for horse lovers of all ages.”

—Shawn T. Anderson, writer, author, and former president of the League of Vermont Writers

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“Celia Ryker’s Big Guy: A School Horse Story tells a horse’s story in his own words. Big Guy is a thoroughbred who moves as he ages from the coddled life of a show horse to become part of a herd of well-tended school horses for young riders. Ryker trained hunter jumpers and taught riding students for more than thirty years. The adventures, injuries, and idiosyncrasies that Big Guy narrates come from horses Ryker has known including former racehorses and circus horses. She shares their stories with compassion. We meet Shorty, the chatty horse who welcomes newcomers to the barn, and Kaiser, the grumpy gelding who kicks at stall walls. We meet their owners. We witness what good care looks like. I read the book in one sitting—as a horse-crazy senior who always slows down as I pass a pasture of horses grazing.” 

—Tricia Knoll, poet and author of Let’s Hear It for the Horses

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“Horses are beautiful, amazing animals. They teach us much, even when we’re not paying attention. What can I say about Ryker’s Big Guy book? I loved reading every page. Couldn’t wait to see what Big Guy and his buddies were up to next! And I loved the book’s wonderful illustrations.”

—Jerry Johnson, author of Up the Creek Without a Saddle

Reviews & In The News

StoryComic, July 28, 2024: From Gallops to Pages: How Celia Ryker Turned Horse Tales into Heartfelt Stories!

Burlington Free Press, June 21, 2024: Stay cool by the pool this summer by reading these books with Vermont connections

WCAX-TV, June 18, 2024: Vt. author pens new book on horse-inspired childhood

A Coloring Book Companion

NEW! As a companion to the book, we made a coloring book, which is also a standalone activity, for all ages featuring Big Guy with his horse and human friends. Words by Celia Ryker, illustrated by Kathy Connell. These line drawings leave room for plenty of imagination and coloring, and tell the story of Big Guy's horse adventures.

MEET THE AUTHOR

The first career of author Celia Ryker was with horses. For more than thirty years, she trained horses and taught students on Southeast Michigan’s hunter jumper circuit. The characters in this book, horse and human, are based on people and animals she has known.

Her second career sent her back to school to study gardening fine arts and landscape design. They were not just careers, they were passions, and when life left room for a new passion, she began to distance hike. Celia has kept journals and written short stories and poems all of her life. She has attended classes at local universities and writing seminars and has written articles for newsletters, local newspapers, and The Vermont League of Writers; she has been working on her craft for decades.

Celia Ryker’s first book, Walking Home: Trail Stories, was a Gold Winner in the 2022 Human Relations Indie Book Award in Travel, and Silver Winner in Motivational Memoir and Personal Determination. Her second book, Augusta: A Novel, about her grandmother’s life of hardship at the turn of the twentieth century, won the 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award.

MEET THE Artist

Dr. Kathy Connell was raised in Northern Illinois, and has had horses in her life since she was a child. Her love of horses led her to become an equine veterinarian. After completing veterinary school in Illinois, and an internship in Florida, Kathy moved to Michigan where she worked for fifteen years with the author’s husband, Don. Kathy then moved to Oregon where she continues to work as an equine veterinarian. As an artist, Kathy draws, paints, and sculpts. She’s recently begun carving and building wooden rocking horses. She enjoys woodworking, improving her home with her husband, wild truffle hunting with her Labrador retrievers, and agility training with her Icelandic sheepdog, Loki.