If you feel so inclined would you please wander over to Amazon.com and leave a review for Hold on to Your Horses? My poor book is lonely over there with no reviews.
Please only leave a review if you have read the book. If you haven’t read the book yet, trot over to holdontoyourhorses.com and download a free electronic copy. Then you can leave a review.
Thanks!
This came in awhile ago, but I’ve been so crazy/busy that I never had time to mention it.
I got an email from a happy recipient of the Hold on to Your Horses book. I was pointed to her blog entry which tells in detail about how on little girl reacted to and internalized the core message of the book.
Posted by Elizabeth of Not in Kansas Anymore on July 15, 2008:
Background: Dorothy just got a new book, Hold Onto Your Horses, which was written by Sandra Tayler, the wife of a friend of Tom’s. It tells the story of a little girl whose ideas always run away with her, until her mother teaches her that ideas are like horses, that you need to guide into the right path to keep them safe, and then they can run with you.Tonight, we were having conflicts at bedtime, with her insisting on choices that I wasn’t offering. First I had given her the option of a long bath or a quick shower, and she chose the quick shower so she could keep playing longer. Then when it was time to get ready for bed, she wanted the long bath. After she’d had her showdown and her shower, she remembered that she hadn’t had dessert. I told her that since there wasn’t a lot of time, she couldn’t have the bowl of ice cream she wanted, but she could have a little piece of chocolate. She insisted that she was going to have the ice cream, and I insisted that she was not.
Then, while I was brushing her hair before dessert, she asked me, “Mommy, how do you steer a horse?” I told her that you pull on the reins in the direction you want to go. She said, “No, I mean how do you steer a horse like one that wants to cut up your hair ribbons?” (This is one of the wild ideas that the little girl gets in her book.) I told her that you have to show the horse the better idea, and distract it from the one it wants to do that’s not really a good idea. She was quiet for the rest of hair brushing. When we were done, she said, “Mommy, I want a little piece of chocolate.”
So, thank you, Sandra. At least one little girl gets what you were trying to say.
This is not the only such tale of success. Readers of this blog have also sent me emails or comments about their experiences with the book. I’m so happy that the story is working!