The Horse Painters is a children’s book set long ago in the last Ice Age. It opens with Umalik and Aariak, brother and sister, making for a large cave where there are drawings on the walls of bison and deer and other animals too. Many of the pictures are drawn by the girl, Aariak, for she possesses magical powers, because the animals she draws are attracted to the cave, making them easier to hunt.
One night another youth, Uirngut, comes to their cave and cowardly slays the sister and in so doing takes the magical powers for himself. He flees across the frozen wastes, knowing that Umalik and his younger brother Aku, will not let the matter rest. Their semi tame wolf goes along too, eager and keen to share in the adventure; a timid creature apparently, though perhaps he is just waiting for a chance to show what he can really do.
So the scene is set as they track the murderer through the snow and ice, hunt animals to eat to stay alive, as they bump into other interesting characters along the way.
In places you can almost smell the odours of drying animal hides and wood-smoke and passing herds of bison and mammoth; feel the icy cold winds that blow across the country, and see the frozen breath oozing from the shivering characters and, the many animals that populate the book.
The story is divided into two parts, the second part introducing more new characters and it all ends when… ah… but I couldn’t possibly say anymore about that, could I?
Cambridgeshire based writer, Peter Stockwell, previously released another book called The Market. This new one, the Horse Painters is aimed at children aged between 8 and 12 and we could well see them enjoying these tales. We liked the cover too. That features a real cave drawing from thousands of years ago.
The book is published through Booklocker.com and is out now and available through all good book stores quoting the ISBN: 978-1-60145-848-3.
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The Horse Painters by Peter Stockwell - Book Review
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