"Children of today need more reality."


This is the reason Barbara Knight wrote "THE RESCUE" with Penny the Mustang Pony, a book for children of all ages.  This book is the first one in a series of seven.  Barbara says the story takes place in the mid-1800's and is as real as it gets for the time period.  Penny has some of the same challenges growing up that young people face today.  In this book, Penny must decide to follow her peers or mind her Mother, thus avoiding a dangerous situation. Each of Penny's adventures have a lesson that children can relate to within their own lives.

Barbara was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska and has a love for horses that began when her Uncle gave her a pony when she was about 8 years old. Since then she has had up to 4 horses at one time.  They were Mustangs that she adopted from Burns, Oregon, some 15 or more years ago.  Barbara feels that so many of the books written for children today are full of fantasy or cartoons that do not reflect real life.  Penny can be seen as a real-life pony.  Barbara of Crooked River Ranch, Oregon lives with her husband, Randy, her Mother and 2 cats.  She also enjoys helping her husband build the growing popularity of the Big Dog Saloon, at Crooked River Ranch.  Barbara has 2 daughters, three granddaughters and 2 great-grandchildren.

The book's illustrator is Dale "Wink" Burgess, who grew up in Wisconsin. He and his wife Rue live by Smith Rock. He also loves horses and even raises a few now.  Wink's favorite hobby and livelihood comes from his leather works. "If it is made with leather, he can make it."  He also does paintings with oil, water colors or pencil.  Wink can be reached at (541) 923-0520 if you need your leather repaired or a painting.

Barbara has finished all the books in the Penny The Mustang pony series.The last book in the series "The Day The Indians Came" will be available late Decembe 2011r.  Barbara can be reached by phone at (541) 504-9620 or e-mail at bknightmustanbks@netzero.net She'd love to hear from you.