Lennie the Legend: Solo to Sydney by Pony by Stephanie Owen Reeder, NLA Publishing, ISBN 9780642278654
REVIEWED BY JOSEPH, 11, WA
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
This is about a nine-year-old boy in 1932 who has a dream to ride his pony to Sydney for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. (He lived in Victoria.)
This book is based on a true story and when I heard about the book I thought it sounded adventurous. I also wondered why Lennie would want to do that? Because when I was nine, I wouldn’t want to be away from my parents and I would have been homesick. No nine year olds I’ve ever known could have done this spectacular feat. He was obviously a brave person with a goal he was determined to achieve.
For people who want to know about Australian history, it gives information that’s not normally known by Australian kids. Lennie the Legend has a glossary, photos of old-fashioned flyers and advertisements and certificates and things, old photos of places and people, maps and newspaper articles from the time. I didn’t think it was as good as some other historical books I’ve read — like Light Horse Boy by Dianne Wolfer. Because in Light Horse Boy I felt more like I was there at the time watching everything happen but Lennie the Legend isn’t like that, it’s a different style of book.
Lennie the Legend is a real piece of history. This book would suit kids Lennie’s age and up.
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Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Dropping In. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!
