WHY I WROTE THIS CHAPTER BOOK THE WAY I DID...

Breyer Stabelmates wanted to feature a breed of horse called a Percheron in its next book. Percherons are draft horses, which means they're used to pull things because they're so large and powerful. Scholastic asked for a winter book. So the song "Jingle Bells" came to my mind. I combined this with a true story from my life. My daughter Diana loves horses and was able to adopt one when she was around 11 or 12. To reduce the expense, she worked in the stables, gave riding lessons, and allowed her horse Albert to be used for lessons in exchange for his board.

I used this same story as the basis of my 5-book middle grade series WILDWOOD STABLES. 
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DIAMOND is another horse book I wrote for the Breyer Stablemates line. Notice the mark on the cover horse's forehead called a diamond.
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The girl on the cover looks like Diana, don't you think? There are lots of ranches around where I live in upper New York.
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My daughter Diana Weyn Gonzalez and me a few years ago at a ranch where she was giving riding lessons. This photo was taken by my other daughter Rae Weyn Gonzalez.
My daughter Rae Weyn Gonzalez took the above photo.  She's a talented artist.
Publisher
Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780439843133
Age Range: 4 to 8
Series: Stablemates