Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Metal Horse Learns Spanglish: And Other Funny Short Stories For Teens And Kids (and parents, too!): A humorous short story collection!

Rate this book
A Christmas book, a holiday book, for everyone. Seven lovely short stories for the funny, warm and each a gem! A favorite of parents and teachers! Quirky, too!

+++++++++ List of



+++++++++ What The Fat Boy With Bad Skin Got In His Stocking


+++++++++++The Iron Toys Make A New Year's Resolution


++++++++++ How Maria Got Extra Hours At Taco Bell


+++++++++ The Metal Horse Learns Spanglish


++++++++++ A Christmas Tree Grows In Oregon


++++++++++ The Boy Who Got Lost In The Airport


++++++++ How Amy (and Bellissima) Got Their Red Nails

++++++++++ From "The Iron Toys Make A New Year's Resolution":++++++++++++

One night, just two days after Christmas,
Maggie got even. She leaned her whole
horseshoe-shaped body against the side of the toy
box and said, "Here comes the force, people,
prepare to be dazzled!" And Maggie's magnetic
powers were felt inside the toy box by each and
every iron toy, and they began to move up the
side of the box, with the cap gun on top, and the
other iron toys below it, with larger toys attached
one by one and smaller toys attached two by two.
The wood and tin toys did not feel a thing, and,
in any event, the wood and the tin toys were
asleep.

"That's curious," said the wizard, "we are
moving. It must be that the little boy knows a
special trick."

++++++++++++++


From "The Metal Horse Learns Spanglish":

+++++++++++++

"My parents were deported," said Emilio. "I
live with a lady now who eats my candy."

"That is no good," said the metal horse.

"She also eats my sardines," said Emilio.

+++++++++

"That, too, is bad," said the metal horse. "If
it would make you feel better, you can ride me."

+++++++++++++++

Chestnut was a real beauty, and lived on a
white mansion on a hill; she had a big red bow
on her tail and a smaller one at the top of her
head. Chestnut said that she had never seen a
horse made of metal before, even in books, and
she offered Emilio and the metal horse cups of
strong coffee. Then she spoke to the metal horse.

+++++++++++++

"Before flying a thousand miles in the rain
and snow, you should have looked me up on Facebook,
and you would have learned that I am
engaged to be married. And you would have seen
pictures of my engagement ring," Chestnut said.
Emilio and the metal horse looked down at
Chestnut's front left hoof, and indeed, it was
surrounded by a silver ring the size of a huge
donut with a diamond on the ring the size of a
walnut.

+++++++++++++

Later that Christmas morning, the shoulders
of the metal horse shook gently and nuts and
bolts collected around his hooves. "I am destined
to remain single forever," he said. "Let's go back
to Oregon," the metal horse said to Emilio, "I will
live as a neglected statue in the park and that's all
she wrote. Anyway, no hollow horse should
expect to marry a real horse."

++++++++++++

From "A Christmas Tree Grows In Oregon":

IN THE TIMES OF THE
Americans, they grew a giant
garden called Oregon, but
there were no flowers.
Instead, Oregon is made of
trees - the locals call them fir
trees, even getting all chummy and calling them
by their first names, for they are all named
Douglas.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
__________

The blackbird "I watch the humans
through the windows of their houses. I see what
goes on with their Christmas trees. There is
merriness and celebration and the adults get all
rosy cheeked and stop fighting. Each home gets
one fir tree and that fir tree is treated like a king
or a queen. Shiny and beautiful things are hung
all around the tree, and the very tip top of the
tree gets a star!"

116 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2016

2 people are currently reading
4 people want to read

About the author

Jerry Cunningham

9 books1 follower
I live in Portland, Oregon.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
2 (66%)
4 stars
1 (33%)
3 stars
0 (0%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for James Wentworth.
8 reviews
March 1, 2017
Lovely short stories with unlikely heroes:

The son of a deported Mexican parents flies to Mexico on a statue of a metal horse;

a fat boy with bad skin gets a surprise;

Maria, a teen, gets extra hours at Taco Bell in a magical way;

Amy, a teen, learns how red nail polish got to China;

A little boy gets lost in an airport;

Iron toys, discarded by kids for decades, plan an escape from the toybox

An Oregon Christmas tree has a happy ending.

The stories are pleasant and funny: I'd say the age range (parents will get the jokes), is 7th-10th grade. I recommend this book. It refers to holiday stories, but they will be read year 'round.
Displaying 1 of 1 review