King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian: Amazon.ca: Marguerite Henry, Wesley Dennis: Books

Product Description

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-The Newbery Medal-winning tale about a stallion, a stable boy, and their globe-spanning adventures.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A book to delight all horse lovers."

-- Horn Book

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First Sentence
THE morning fog had lifted, giving way to a clear day. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.9 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars "The king of the wind is loes.", Jan 3 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian (Hardcover)

King of the wind is a great book. I am not a hores book person but I really liked this book. Sham was born with a singh of bad luk witch was the weat ear but he was also born with a white spot on his hind leg withc was good luk and that he would be a fast running hores. Sham, Agba,(is the mute boy who takes care of him) and a cat. Thoes three go through many things to gether and live many places. The book has a pretty happy ending and you should read it. I am going to give you about ten words of advice, GIVE THIS BOOK A TRY AND GO READ IT.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Book For All Ages!, Aug 26 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian (Paperback)

This will touch your heart in so many ways. It brings you into the life of a small boy and his special bond with a horse. You will follow their journey that goes many places.

The first time I picked up this book and read it I fell in love with it. I even now in my read this book at least once a year.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Could have told more of the real story..., July 22 2003

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Nonesuch Explorers "sizhao" (Too Close To L.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian (Hardcover)

Marguerite Henry took great license in telling the story of the Godolphin Arabian, but it's likely there were two reasons she did so; first, because she based the majority of her novel on heavily romanticised reports like that which appeared in Western Horseman in 1949; second, to illustrate to young children what could happen to perfectly good horses that were considered worthless because of prejudice or unwillingness to see what was there.

The real Sham was born in Tunis and given by the Bey of Tunis to King Louis XV with a group of other horses. But there's no evidence that he was reduced to pulling a cart in the Paris streets before rescue by Edward Coke. Coke probably got him from the Duke of Lorraine, who'd gotten him from the King.

A contemporary described Sham as "beautiful but half-starved", so the rough sea voyage with the greedy staff is likely true, even if the cart-horse story is not. He also said that Sham (he spelled it Shami, and other accounts have "Scham") was temperamental and generally disliked by the stable hands. A vet who cared for Sham in his last years said he was built to sire champions: "his shoulders were deeper, and lay farther into his back, than those of any horse ever yet seen. Behind the shoulders, there was but a very small space ere the muscles of his loins rose exceedingly high, broad, and expanded, which were inserted into his hindquarters with greater strength and power than in any horse I believe ever yet seen of his dimensions, viz fifteen hands high."

Agba was real; there are portraits of the little horse with a handsome dark-skinned young man in flowing Arab dress and turban. Whether or not he was mute is debatable. Again, many of the later accounts have been greatly romanticised. But Grimalkin the stable cat was real too, according to early records which report his presence in the famous portrait.

There is no record of the apocalyptic battle with Hobgoblin. We can look at that, and Sham's subsequent exile to Wicken Fen, as symbolic of the prejudice felt by the complacent English toward this relatively small, strange-looking newcomer. The truth is that Sham did mate with Lady Roxane and sired Lath. He sired 116 others in his long lifetime.

With all the interest in Seabiscuit of late, one would like to point out that as a direct descendant of Man O'War, he was also a direct descendant of the Godolphin Arabian. Just another horse who seemed worthless, but was not, and came from behind to prove the superiority of Arabian blood.

Look up "Davenport Arabians" to learn more about this proud line.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The friendship between the Godolphin Arabian and a mute boy
This book tells the story of the unforgettable and never-ending friendship between agba and Sham, a Godolphin Arabian. Read more

Published on May 24 2003 by Amanda

4.0 out of 5 stars The Godolphin Arabian
KING OF THE WIND by Marguerite Henry, was a great book! I love how the battle between good and evil was portrayed. Read more