// If you want surprises, read the book first! //
What’s better than a story about a horse rescuing a man lost at sea? A TRUE story about a horse rescuing a man from drowning in an “inland sea” – Lake Michigan. As I was reading this gorgeously illustrated picture book, I was reminded of the stormy, shipwreck sequence in Francis Ford Coppola’s BLACK STALLION film (a must-see if you haven’t), where Alec holds onto The Black as he swims to shore. But that story is fiction. The event in THE FISHERMEN, THE HORSE, AND THE SEA took place in Wisconsin, on the coast of Lake Michigan, in 1895. Author Barbara Joosse and illustrator Renée Graef recreate the gripping moments when a storm hit Port Washington and tore a schooner to bits in the high wind and crashing waves of Lake Michigan. Sadly, like so many shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, lives were lost – except for one. From shore, a fisherman’s family and their neighbors gather to help, but it’s the horse that is the hero of the story. Like a film, words and images meld, bringing this dramatic story to life for a new generation. And I love that it is told from the perspective of young Lester Smith, who witnessed the incredible rescue as a child. He never forgot it. And now, thanks to this beautiful work of art, it won’t be forgotten by others.