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Tales of Sasha #1
The Big Secret
In the Tales of Sasha series debut, Sasha discovers that she really isn't like the other horses in her valley when wings sprout from her back and she soars through the air!
In the first book of Tales of Sasha, readers meet Sasha, a kindhearted young horse who has always felt a little bit different from the other horses in Verdant Valley. For starters, she looks nothing like her two older sisters, Zara and Poppy, who are black and brown while Sasha is pale gray—except for a small white patch on her back. Sasha also loves running and jumping and the feeling of being in the air, and she longs to explore the forest beyond her valley.
One day during school, Sasha is having trouble concentrating, and the white patch on her back gives her an itching feeling that makes her want to soar. She tries to ignore it but finds that she can’t and ends up running and leaping over the big rock she and her classmates were approaching. When she lands on the other side, she realizes that her patch is sparkling!
In the first book of Tales of Sasha, readers meet Sasha, a kindhearted young horse who has always felt a little bit different from the other horses in Verdant Valley. For starters, she looks nothing like her two older sisters, Zara and Poppy, who are black and brown while Sasha is pale gray—except for a small white patch on her back. Sasha also loves running and jumping and the feeling of being in the air, and she longs to explore the forest beyond her valley.
One day during school, Sasha is having trouble concentrating, and the white patch on her back gives her an itching feeling that makes her want to soar. She tries to ignore it but finds that she can’t and ends up running and leaping over the big rock she and her classmates were approaching. When she lands on the other side, she realizes that her patch is sparkling!
112 pages, Paperback
Published January 3, 2017
18 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 20, 2017
I gave this book to my six-year-old daughter. She loves horses, so she was delighted to get her hands on the book. This is the first chapter book she was able to complete all by herself. She's pretty proud of that!
The thing I like about this book is that it has a good story for kids who are learning to read. It's simple enough to be short, yet high-interest enough to keep kids turning the pages.
It also has illustrations on every page, so it's kind of like reading a really long beginning reader book.
The story is about a horse named Sasha that doesn't fit in with her herd. She always wants to run and jump instead of walk in a straight line like the rest of the horses. Eventually, her parents let her in on a big secret they've been keeping and Sasha learns more about herself.
It's a cute story and one that kids in the 6-8 age range will love. The vocabulary is spot on. It's the perfect book to transition a kid from early readers and picture books to chapter books.
Content: Clean
Source: The publisher sent me a copy of this book.
The thing I like about this book is that it has a good story for kids who are learning to read. It's simple enough to be short, yet high-interest enough to keep kids turning the pages.
It also has illustrations on every page, so it's kind of like reading a really long beginning reader book.
The story is about a horse named Sasha that doesn't fit in with her herd. She always wants to run and jump instead of walk in a straight line like the rest of the horses. Eventually, her parents let her in on a big secret they've been keeping and Sasha learns more about herself.
It's a cute story and one that kids in the 6-8 age range will love. The vocabulary is spot on. It's the perfect book to transition a kid from early readers and picture books to chapter books.
Content: Clean
Source: The publisher sent me a copy of this book.
February 14, 2017
The adorable illustrations don't really live up to the blah execution. It's all setup for future books. But it's short enough that I would imagine its target audience won't care and will want to eat up the rest of the series. A good book for those ready to leave Easy Readers and want to dip their toe into a chapter book.
March 28, 2023
3.5 stars. Cute book! This is about a horse named Sasha who just cannot focus. She wants to pay attention in class but she has a white spot on her back that gets itchy and she just can't help but run and jump and play. She is really curious to know what's beyond the forest of trees, but they're never supposed to go there and her friends are all fine with that. She feels different and has one friend that supports her. In the very end she realizes she's actually a unicorn. She appeared at her parents doorstep and they took her in and raised her as their own. I'm excited to see whats next!
October 17, 2025
Good book! I am excited to read book two!
April 13, 2021
Such a cute series for little ones:)
August 28, 2017
Sasha doesn't mean to be a trouble maker but she has a hard time focusing in school and staying in line. She just gets this itch and twitch to move and soar. When her peculiar white patch doesn't just itch but sparkle, Sasha finds out a big secret about herself from her parents.
So I really honestly thought this was going to end up helping kids better understand and self-regulate their ADHD. I totally thought that would end up being Sasha's secret. But nope. Turns out that even though she displays all the signs of ADHD, Sasha's real problem is that . That isn't a bad thing. It makes for a fun fantasy story for kids, but I was kinda disappointed it wasn't something to help kids with ADHD which is just my own fault for making a wrong prediction. I also wanted the illustrations in color since the colors are often mentioned. Hand this to horse lovers and lower grade fantasy fans. (I'm sure my horse-loving sister would have worn this series to itty-bitty bits if it had been around when she was in early elementary.)
So I really honestly thought this was going to end up helping kids better understand and self-regulate their ADHD. I totally thought that would end up being Sasha's secret. But nope. Turns out that even though she displays all the signs of ADHD, Sasha's real problem is that . That isn't a bad thing. It makes for a fun fantasy story for kids, but I was kinda disappointed it wasn't something to help kids with ADHD which is just my own fault for making a wrong prediction. I also wanted the illustrations in color since the colors are often mentioned. Hand this to horse lovers and lower grade fantasy fans. (I'm sure my horse-loving sister would have worn this series to itty-bitty bits if it had been around when she was in early elementary.)
January 5, 2021
Appropriate for: all ages!
I read this book to my 3.5 year old daughter and she loved it. There's pictures on every page, so it's not a long read even at 100 pages. I loved the art and liked the story.
I read this book to my 3.5 year old daughter and she loved it. There's pictures on every page, so it's not a long read even at 100 pages. I loved the art and liked the story.
April 20, 2021
Really good
May 5, 2025
Really disappointed in this book - I guess my expectations were too high? The writing is SUPER clunky, there's zero exposition or character introduction, as if I'm supposed to know these characters already. As slow as booked like Unicorn/Owl Diaries are, I appreciate that they explain the day-to-day life of the main character before jumping into the plot. This book does not do that - for some reason Sasha is running away from her parents? And then school starts (?) and their lesson (?) is to walk behind their partner in a straight line (?) ... what kind of horse school is that? Though I knew/guessed the spoiler, I really thought that there would also be some kind of ADHD tie in with Sasha learning to regulate her desire to run/jump/fly situationally. NOPE! At least not in this first book. I also HATED multiple mentions of secrets - she even asks her "better than best friend" (what does that mean) to keep her secret. No thanks!
June 21, 2018
Pearl, Alexa The Big Secret (Tales of Sasha #1), illustrated by Paco Sordo. CHAPTER BOOK. Little Bee Books (Bonnier Publishing), 2017. $6. 9781499803891
Sasha is an energetic pony who wonders why a horse would ever walk when it could run. Unfortunately, her inability to stay still often gets her in trouble. But it turns out that there's a reason for Sasha's restlessness.
This is a cute beginning to the series. Short chapters and ample illustrations make it accessible for chapter-book readers, and many children will both understand Sasha's need for activity and delight in her secret.
EL (K-3) -- ADVISABLE. Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...
Sasha is an energetic pony who wonders why a horse would ever walk when it could run. Unfortunately, her inability to stay still often gets her in trouble. But it turns out that there's a reason for Sasha's restlessness.
This is a cute beginning to the series. Short chapters and ample illustrations make it accessible for chapter-book readers, and many children will both understand Sasha's need for activity and delight in her secret.
EL (K-3) -- ADVISABLE. Sydney G., K-6 Library Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...
February 11, 2018
My daughter and I read this book together. She loves horses. She likes all the characters in this book except for Caleb the teacher. He gave Sasha a zero in class because she did not stay in line with her partner, she had an urge to jump. Toward the end of the book her mother and father decided to tell her the story of baby Sasha. They reveal a secret to her. The secret is....well you’ll have to read to find out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2019
I picked up this book from the library for my seven year old because it looked like something she might enjoy. It had the perfect balance of pictures and words on each page, so it wasn't overwhelming to her. The story was sweet with hints of a magical kind of ending. As we approached the end of the book, my daughter did not want to put the book down. It had the slight feel of reading something from My Little Pony but had more of a sweeter and innocent tone.
September 23, 2025
Didn’t love this. It sounded cute. Normally, I don’t allow things with “secrets”…but I thought it was just going to be a secret to her. More of a discovery that she was a Pterippus than that her parents were keeping a secret from her. This led to her keeping a secret from her friend. Then she said she was going to do the EXACT thing she was told not to do and told her best friend to KEEP IT A SECRET. No thanks. There are so many better series out there.
September 19, 2018
This is a very cute book for your little reader. I love the story line and how it shows that not everyone is the same and some of us are different. I would definitely recommend it! My second grader is almost finished with it (I preread all of her books) and she’s excited to find out what Sasha’s secret is!
May 11, 2019
This is the beginning of a heavily illustrated chapter book series about Sasha the horse who has always felt a little different from everyone else. Her big secret is revealed at the end, though there are plenty of questions left unanswered. My daughter really enjoyed this one, but it wasn't one of my favorites.
January 7, 2022
I was totally against reading this book because of the name of the head character (lol) but my daughter insisted because she figured out it was about a horse who grows wings so she demanded that we read it. The illustrations are fantastic and the story is very sweet. With short chapters, it makes it an easy nighttime read before my daughter falls asleep.
September 8, 2017
Sasha feels a desire to fly and has trouble keeping her head out of the clouds. Her parents reveal to her the reason why: Oh, the primary girls are going to love this series!
October 26, 2019
Sasha feels out of place in her pony world until her parents tell her the big secret of her origin.
Next step book for a beginning reader with short chapters of simple sentences with lots of illustrations. Might be good for book group if the kids are on the young side.
Next step book for a beginning reader with short chapters of simple sentences with lots of illustrations. Might be good for book group if the kids are on the young side.
October 9, 2020
In this first Tales of Sasha book, Sasha discovers that she has a secret and there is a reason that she is not like the other horses in her valley. It’s a cute fantasy chapter book for kids who like flying horses.
July 31, 2024
For a young reader I think this would engage them. It has pictures on every page and is a chapter book. Sasha finds out that she was adopted into her family and found on a very tall mountain. She finds out that she can fly when she jumps to far. She vows to find more that are like her.
September 1, 2017
Sasha, a young horse who has always had trouble keeping still, discovers a secret about herself that makes her understand why she is different than her herd.
February 20, 2018
Pretty cute and simple... our 2nd grade girls are devouring these! =)
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
May 6, 2019
Cute story of self discovery as a pony who’s never been like the rest of her herd finds out what makes her so special.
August 18, 2020
My daughter's absolutely loved this book! They canyt wait to read the rest of them!
April 1, 2021
7 year old is devouring these! She can’t wait for the next one!
June 3, 2021
didn't love it, wasn't horrible
July 18, 2021
My 8-year-old daughter loves these!!
September 13, 2021
Super cute chapter book about a horse that discovers she is magical.
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October 12, 2021So cute to read to my 5 year old while, my 8 year old reads the series herself.
March 4, 2022
The fourth star is for how much my kid loves these books!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews