And as adventure and unexpected friendship blossom, Addie is determined that both of them will know what is to be home again soon … Just let lovely Ruth and Sam look after you for a bit’ Penny, the social worker, encourages Addie. Yet Addie takes care of her Mam. That’s the way it’s meant to be. She didn’t mean to drop the milk bottle and alert the suspicions of the neighbours that Mam wasn’t coping again. Yet somehow, somebody found out and now Addie’s here, on an Exmoor farm, with lovely Ruth and Sam and Gabe, and Flo the sheepdog. There are other children, including Sunni, who doesn’t want Addie there, and Jake, who says nothing. We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose. When eleven-year-old Addie goes to stay with a foster family on a remote Exmoor farm in the midst of a very cold winter, she is full of hurt, anger and a deep mistrust of everyone around her. Until one day, when she rescues a tiny wild foal from the moorland snow and Addie discovers that perhaps she’s not so alone after all. Addie pushed open the shop door. The bell clanged. She peered round the shelves. Please let it be Mr Borovski today, she thought. Not Mrs Crabtree, with her thin nose poking into everyone’s business. Mrs Crabtree who noticed things.

Snow Foal – Collins

This is a fiction book about a girl called Addie who looks after a foal. I would recommend this book because it is amazing! A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews.

Safer gambling

Ruth didn’t look like a foster carer. Not like Dawn anyway. Dawn, with her pink hair and high heels, her endless phone calls, her high-pitched laugh. Dawn, who hardly spoke to Addie for the whole weekend she spent there in the summer. Dawn, who never smiled. He added: “I’ve got no issues with her stamina whatsoever. Yes, it looked like she was tying up in the Becher Chase but that is because she had been in front for two and a half miles into a driving headwind and driving rain. Sunni shrugged her shoulders. ‘My mum wants me to come home too, only she couldn’t learn how to look after me properly, so I’m staying here.’ Sue has seen just how helpful stories – and animals – can be when children (and adults) are confused, sad, or afraid. She has learned about the healing power of nature; of wild, quiet, green spaces. Seven years ago, she decided to see if she could write about these things, and went to university to study creative writing. In 2016, Sue was awarded the Bath Spa University Undergraduate Prize for Writing for Young People. The following year, she graduated, with distinction, from Bath Spa’s wonderful MA Writing for Young People. Her MA Novel, Snow Foal, was shortlisted for the 2017 Joan Aiken Future Classics Prize, and given ‘honourary mention’ in the United Agents/Bath Spa University Prize for the same year. This just didn't quite work for me unfortunately. I was expecting a book similar to Gypsy from Nowhere but that wasn't quite what it was.

Snow Foal | Summer Reading Challenge

We couldn’t wait to go over the big fences to be honest as we always thought she would take to them fine, but you never quite know. I’m always a glass half-full person though. Yes, we expected her to love them but until you jump them you never quite know. I absolutely love Snow Foal - it's so truthful, tender and touching. A book to read in a day and remember for a lifetime (Dame Jacqueline Wilson, author of Tracy Beaker) - I absolutely love Snow Foal – it's so truthful, tender and touching. A book to read in a day and remember for a lifetime.' – Dame Jacqueline Wilson

More from Sporting Life

En nat sniger Addie sig væk for at hjælpe føllet ud på heden til sin mor. Føllet er kun halvblods og derfor må det ikke være på heden sammen med de andre fuldblodsheste. Det synes Addie er syndt og derfor hjælper hun føllet, så det kan være sammen med sin mor. Strengths: Like Scarlet Ibis, Snow Foal gives us a good look at the foster care system in England, along with an enticing view of an English farm. Addie's feelings and concerns see true to life, and her transference of her feelings of longing for her mother to the foal are very realistic. It's good to see other points of view; Gabe was adopted by Sam and Ruth, so is more stable, Sunni still wants to see her mother but knows that it is increasingly unlikely, and Jude is too young to fully process his circumstances. Penny is portrayed more sympathetically than many social workers, which I appreciated. The real draw will be the wild foal, and Addie's ability to bond with it and take care of it. There's even a bit of adventure when Addie takes off into the night. If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133. Thanks so much for your lovely message and for everything that you do with Book Wagon. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do. Although this is a middle-grade novel, I believe that it is something that YA readers and adults will love too, just like I did.

Snow Leopardess aiming for Grand National win like a film Snow Leopardess aiming for Grand National win like a film

We’ve had horses get around but we have never had horses shorter than 50-1 really. If the ground had been drier then Pendra would have been alright. Eleven-year-old Addie has been taken to a rural farm in Exmoor, to stay with a foster family whilst her mum gets help in looking after herself and her daughter. Addie is angry and upset to be apart from her mum and doesn’t want to be at the farm. She hopes it is just for one night, but one night turns into weeks and then months. Perfect,’ Penny said. She put her briefcase on the table. Addie stared at it. She knew all about that briefcase, with its files full of secrets and lies. I just want to go to sleep,’ Addie said. She gulped down her hot drink, wiped her hand across her mouth, got to her feet.Secondary Col 3 Anthologies for KS3 to KS5 English White Rose Maths Secure Science for GCSE Reimagine KS3 English KS3 Science Now Collins Classroom Classics

Snow Leopardess bids to win Grand National after having a foal Snow Leopardess bids to win Grand National after having a foal

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. When it comes to previous runners in the race Longsdon has had little to shout about until now, but in Snow Leopardess he feels he has an altogether different contender from those he has saddled before. Her eyes became heavy as she lay listening. If she went to sleep again, she wouldn’t have the bad feeling in her stomach. But the dream might come again. She needed to stay awake. Grab a blanket, a hot chocolate and one of these brilliant books for the ultimate winter experience! How much my daughter and I enjoyed Snow Foal! It's a gripping sensitively written book' (Jenny McLachlan, author of The Land of Roar) -

Keep in touch

The social service workers in the book are portrayed as always not even trying to explain to the child why they make the decisions they make. It seems that the author implicitly agrees with that approach. Well I think that's NOT the right way. One ought to be both open and sincere with the child, while using language at an appropriate level, instead of concealing or distorting the truth based on the excuse that it is for the child's sake. Although one needs to take into account the child's emotional and mental well-being, it is counter-productive to work based on the assumption that social service workers always know what is best. All humans (professional or not) may make mistakes, and it is hence a disservice to the child to not at least seek to understand and cater for the child's own feelings as part of working WITH the child. I did not like that this "social service workers know best" mantra was repeated and implied to be true multiple times (such as by the words that the author made Gabe say to Addie).