Calico The Wonder Horse or The Saga of Stewy Stinker by Virginia Lee Burton

I bought this because I thought it best the we own all of Virginia Lee Burtons books. Everyone with kids should. And also because of the title.

I hadn't realised that the author wrote it specifically because her son had lost interest in books and only had eyes for comics. So, even in the early forties, parents were trying to lure their kids away from comics, back to books, failing and then searching for a combination of the two. Now we have a multitude of graphic novels, mentioned, here and here.Then, Virginia Lee Burton created Calico The Wonder Horse or The Saga Of Stewy Stinker. It was inspired by her sons comics, the "funnies" he read and the radio programmes he listened to with his friends. (I wonder can I buy them anywhere?)

Its an adventure - a western to be precise, laid out with two pictures per most page, to keep things moving along. As an aside - probably not important to kids but it might be to you - the pictures are extraordinary(I've just spent an age on google to see if they are block print or screen print or what, but no luck.)

The background colours on the pages change according to the amount of excitement happening and its all just a fantastic, thrilling adventure. So, so, highly recommended. For ages four and up.