Christmas at Two Rivers

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Brandy and Mabel are two horses who once roamed free on Sable Island.
They were captured as colts and now live at Two Rivers Park in Cape
Breton Island. They spend their lives being fed and admired by people.
Because the two horses enjoy being the centre of attention, they always
feel a little sad on Christmas Day, when all the people stay home with
their families. But this year, a tiny little boy and his mother have
come out to visit. Besides bringing a bag of apples for the horses, they
decorate a nearby fir tree with chunks of toasted bread, cranberry
garlands, stars, and bells of birdseed. As the hungry birds, squirrels,
and rabbits arrive to feast on the tree, Brandy and Mabel realize that
for once they will not be lonely at Christmas.

Author and illustrator Marci Lin Melvin appears to be self-taught in
both these fields, but what she lacks in skill she makes up for with
enthusiasm. Her animal characters are crudely drawn, but her
illustrations have a rich sense of color. Her prose is equally awkward
and sometimes stumbles over itself, but Melvin manages to keep moving by
sheer verve of verbs. A good editor might have cleared up some of the
weak phrasing and occasional misspellings, but a bad editor might have
killed this book altogether, and that would have been a mistake.
Recommended with reservations.