The Kentucky Derby yesterday produced both triumph and tragedy, as favorite Big Brown won going away despite beginning the race in the outside position, and then the second-place filly Eight Belles broke down after the finish and had to be Havlupan euthanized. In honor of the Derby and the beginning of Triple Crown season, we take a look this week at favorite children's books involving horses.

More	Black Beauty Anna Sewell This classic was written more than 130 years ago. It's a description of the life of a horse in those times, told from the perspective of Black Beauty himself. Sewell's goal was to highlight the sometimes cruel treatment of horses and motivate reform, and so the book is grim in places. It wasn't really intended as children's literature but became extremely popular and is probably read by a significant percentage of children even today. It's been made into a movie many times, most recently in 1994 .
More	Misty of Chincoteague Marguerite Henry Chincoteague is an island off Virginia, and Misty was a real horse , born in 1946 (the novel was written in 1947) and died 1972. This is a great kids book because the central characters are the children, Paul and Maureen, and their relationship with the colt. A sequel tells about the big 1963 storm that hit the island and one of Misty's foals. The wild horses are still there, now a tourist attraction.
More	The Black Stallion Walter Farley This 1941 book spawned a host of sequels that combine horses, racing, and adventure. The initial book has a shipwrecked boy developing a bond with the black stallion; the second act of the novel has him racing the horse against two well-known foes. Farley does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation, and I recall sitting mesmerized as I turned the pages. The series takes the reader to many exotic locations and has the protagonist solving mysteries, making narrow escapes, and usually emerging triumphant at the conclusion -- a formula to satisfy any kid's heart.

Those are the classics that leap to mind for me, but I know there are many more fantastic horse stories out there. What were your favorites, and why?

Previous installments in the weekend art series:
Feb 24: Madonna of the Yarnwinder and art theft
Mar 01: Pros and cons of digital cameras
Mar 08: Barber's Adagio and interpreting classical music
Mar 15: Romeo and Juliet re-imagined
Mar 22: None (Easter)
Mar 29: Paul Weller, one of the best Brit rockers
Apr 05: Waves in paint, verse, and song
Apr 13: Finlandia
Apr 20: Flash fiction
Apr 26: The open road