I'd like to introduce you to a magnificent book called Satchi and Little Star. It was written by one of my favorite authors, Donna Marie Seim, and illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Susan Spellman. They are a great team!  Donna and Susan created the fun picture book, Where is Simon, Sandy? and also a chapter book, Hurricane Mia.

This book is about Satchi, a young girl on an island, who comes to find a group of wild horses. She finds one that she wants to tame, and she named it Little Star. It had one white sock and a star on its forehead. Every single day, she put out jelly bread. Finally, she tried to catch him, and he ran away. She felt so sorry for that horse, and went to look for her. She finally found her, and knew that she should not try to tame wild animals.

I liked this book for many reasons - I didn't know much about wild horses; I liked the character of Satchi; Satchi learns a lesson; and that the setting was so beautiful - the ocean and town and colors - it was awesome. And guess what? Satchi and Little Star won an honorable mention from the New England Book Festival!

I thought this was a very fun book and I recommend it!

I emailed my friend Donna who wrote the book, and asked her some questions.

Hi Lillie,
I am on Grand Turk Island where the story SATCHI AND LITTLE STAR takes place. The very same place that WHERE IS SIMON, SANDY? took place. I like your questions! I will do my best to answer them for you.

#1. Why did Satchi pick Little Star? There were so many other horses?

What a great question, and you are the first to ask it. When I was thinking about writing a story about a little girl and a horse I took lots of pictures of the wild horses on the island. I was drawn to the younger ones, feeling that if you were to try to catch and tame a horse your best bet would be with a younger horse. Many of the horses here have white diamonds on their foreheads, but even though it is clearly a diamond shape it is called a star. Many also have one, two or three white socks and sometimes even four. I liked the idea of one white sock. When it came time for Satchi to pick her horse I guess all three things came to being; one the younger horse, two the white star and three the one white sock. The illustrator, Susan Spellman, knew that is the horse I wanted Satchi to fall in love with so she drew and painted him in the center part of the parade of horses. And that is how Satchi came to pick Little Star!

#2. How did you come up with the character of Satchi?

Another great question! When I first decided to write a story about someone trying to catch and tame a wild horse, I decided that it would be a girl on the island. I have a friend named Satchi and I wanted to use her name because I thought it beautiful and yet unusual. I asked her parents if they minded and her father said, "I would be honored." And her mother said, "I love it." And so the name was easily settled upon. The actual girl in the story does not look like Satchi, but there is a part of her in the character, mostly her smile and enthusiasm.

"Satchi" the character is actually a composite or mixture of many of the young girls I have been lucky enough to get to know and make friends with on the Turks and Caicos Islands. So instead of Satchi being Satchi, I made her more of a representation of the girls who live on the island of Grand Turk. Again Susan Spellman, the illustrator, and I worked on what Satchi would look like. We wanted her to be daring and clever enough to want to tame a wild horse by herself, but also loving, caring and concerned for Little Star's well being at the same time. I must admit we had fun picking out her colorful clothes!

What was most important was that Satchi, the character, had to show all the emotions that she felt, from yearning to own a horse, to fearing she had hurt him and then saving him in the end.

And so that is how Satchi came to be Satchi in the story.

#3. Are there really wild horses that go through the town?

The answer to that one is a definite yes. Others who have not seen horses walking down the middle of the street without a rider or a lead have asked that same question. It is true, there are so many horses here that they are found all over the island. It would be best for them to stay on the open areas away from cars and people. But, the horses need water and they will take the same paths that they have taken for three hundred years to seek the water they need. If it doesn't rain much they are forced closer and closer to people to find water. We put out a half barrel of water outside our gate and keep it out even when we are not here to help the horses find water. One of the major reasons for me writing this story was to help raise money to help the wild horses. We would like to build a Sanctuary for the horses, so they are cared for and given water and shelter and yet may remain free to roam wild.

#4. What kind of jelly was on her bread?

I love this question! When I read the story last week to a class in the States, they told me they could taste the jelly on the bread. Now I wish I had asked them what kind of jelly it tasted like! There are no jelly making berries that grow on the island so I don't think it would have been homemade jelly, my guess is grape jelly! But any sweet jelly or jam would work because horses love sugar. That is why the sweet smell of the jelly bread worked for Satchi to feed Little Star.

When I first came to visit the island I fell in love with the wild horses. I wished I could own one, just like Satchi! Of course, it was impossible, since I didn't live here at the time, but an island friend told me, if you want a horse just come with a piece of jelly bread and you will have yourself a horse! And so, that is how the jelly bread came to play an important role in the story.

#5. What inspired you to write the book?

Lillie, you have asked great questions. My inspiration was my love of the wild horses! I do wish to see them remain wild and free and yet safe and well cared for. I have known the feeling of yearning to own a wild horse, and I could easily imagine Satchi wanting to own one.

I knew from the very beginning that she would have her trials and tribulations and it wouldn't be an easy task. I thought that she should succeed in catching and possibly taming a horse. In the end she would understand that he was a herd animal and he wanted to be with his herd. Rather than separate him and keep him for herself she chooses to do the right thing and set him free. The story ends that both the horse and girl having touched each others lives in a way only they would know, and that there would always be a bond of friendship between them. The second part of my inspiration was writing about a young girl and how she deals with her desire to own a wild horse, and how she grows to learn an important lesson about what true friendship is all about.

I've included some pictures for you of the horses.

Thank you, Donna! I love this book!

For more information, please see:

http://www.donnaseim.com/satchiandlittlestar.html

Satchi and Little Star is available at Amazon:

L Forteau is the Traveling Kids Editor for Wandering Educators

All photos courtesy and copyright Donna Seim.