Synopsis
The only thing twins Fran and Kiera have ever agreed on is thatit would be wonderful to own a pony — a pony they could gallop and leap over jumps.
One day their father brings them Jigsaw, a Shetland pony who needs a new family. Jigsaw is the perfect pony. He can do anything — even fit himself into Dad's station wagon for the ride home.
But with Jigsaw comes trouble. The more Fran and Kiera like something, the harder it is for them to share. And they love Jigsaw. Worse, Jigsaw won't gallop far and he won't leap more than a couple of jumps. Is something wrong with the way the twins ride? Or is something wrong with Jigsaw?
Sally J. K. Davies - Children's Literature
Fran and Kiera are twins and they argue about nearly everything—but they both desperately want a pony. When their dad rescues a neglected black-and-white Shetland pony named Jigsaw and brings it home, the sisters cannot even agree on a name for their new pony. One twin calls him Snowflake and the other twin calls him Midnight. The twins' best friend, Jody, continues to call the pony Jigsaw. The three girls work hard to look after Jigsaw and they even bring the pony to school—right into the classroom—for show and tell. When the teacher asks them to introduce their pony, the twins both blurt out, "Jigsaw." At home, Jigsaw refuses to gallop or go over jumps or around obstacles despite their efforts, so the quest is on to find out why. This is a real pony book with lots of empathy for the pony's thoughts and feelings. The type is large enough for readers who are just beginning to explore chapter books. The illustrator obviously loves ponies as much as the twins do. The black-and-white illustrations that appear through out the book will certainly tempt horse-crazy children to read further. The author has also written two other pony books, Runaway Pony and Birthday Pony. 2005, Greenwillow, Ages 7 to 9.