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Litercurious Book Review

Jubilee K T Johnston — Jubilee by K T Johnston

Title	Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream
Author	KT Johnston
Illustrator	Annabella Ortiz
Publisher	Capstone Editions (February 1, 2022)
Format	Hardcover
Pages	32
Genre	Children’s Literature, Historical Non-Fiction Equestrian competition,
Language	English
ISBN10/13	168446255X / 978-1684462551

AUTHOR / ILLUSTRATOR

Learn all about KT Johnston, her works and her upcoming books on her website.

Annabella Ortiz is a freelance illustrator and designer. Learn all about her on her website.

SYNOPSIS

Jubilee is the story of a Danish woman named Lis Hartel. As a young girl Lis was always around horses. She trained and later competed in dressage competitions. In 1943 she became the National Champion of Denmark. However, a year later she was struck down with Polio.

Fearing she might never walk again, Lis was determined to ride again. Eventually she started working with young gentle horse named Jubilee. Together they worked and trained. Although Lis was handicapped, she never gave up and through her determination and Jubilee’s good nature they started competing again. Not only did she have to overcome her disabilities, but she had to overcome the male dominated sport. She and Jubilee qualified for the 1948 Olympics. However, women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic dressage competition at that time. In 1952 women were allowed to compete and she and Jubliee won the Silver Medal!

CONCLUSION

Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream is a book about courage, determination, overcoming insurmountable obstacles, and a love for horses. This book is an inspiration to all those who not only love horses, but to those who are undergoing extreme hardships.

Lis is a heroine to all young girls! She teaches them to never give up, keep working for what you believe and love. Through hard work and determination, anything is possible.

The story itself, while inspirational, is a little choppy. I feel as if the story has been condensed a little too much. While all the main points are covered, there is much more to her story.

The illustrations are very good and age appropriate. Annabella Ortiz did a wonderful job depicting the horses, the people and the riding attire.

I enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end of the book. It was here that I learned more about Lis Hartel and Jubilee, although I wish this information was included in the book itself.

A great and inspirational story! I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves horses or needs some inspiration to get through a rough time in their lives.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank KT Johnston, Capstone Editions, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to review Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream.