Lovely modern day version of the archetypal Black Beauty story: horse narrates his life as he is sold to a series of owners and makes friends along the way, learns lessons. In this case, Macadoo is a Belgian draft horse, which is a different and interesting choice for a horse story. His mother imparts lessons to him about his breed, that they were important for humans, used in clearing land and doing all sorts of work; and that his job will always be to be strong and to heal people. Yes, the story is a little heartstring-pulling and dare I say schmaltzy, but really nice. Macadoo suffers the heartbreaking first separation from his mother, and then another separation years later from the boy he has grown to love; but he also learns to stay true to his calling and love every new child who comes to care for him or to ride him. And there's a lovely happy ending. I enjoyed learning a little more about vaulting (the sport of doing gymnastics tricks while on the back of a horse running around in a circle!) and therapeutic riding stables. I liked the mules he befriends, Job and Molly, too. My only quibble, and what kept me from giving it five stars, was that the horses were pretty much all-knowing; they all understood their humans perfectly, so they were always aware of what was going to happen to them. Mac's mom knew what an auction was and knew of the historic importance of Belgians; Mac learns to recognize the constellations in the night sky! As in, their real names, not some horse-idea of the constellations. But maybe I am being too cynical. I know as a 13-year old I would have eaten this book up, and I enjoyed being able to hand it to one of my library teens as her summer reading prize recently. I would read the other book in the series, Chancey of Maury River, too. I received an Early Reviewer advance reading copy of this book from LibraryThing in exchange for my (belated) review. ( )

"Macadoo of the Maury River" is an unpretentious little book, told from a horse's point of view in much the same manner as the classic "Black Beauty", but with less drama and cruelty content. In some ways, it reminded me of another classic, "The Velveteen Rabbit", about how an animal can make a difference in a person's life, or, in this case, several lives.

Nicely written, entertaining, with not too much philosophizing. ( )

I am not really a horse person, but I know that this book would definatly tug on a horse lovers heart. I wish it had a little more of the other characters thoughts, feelings, and emotions. I also think that the action was not blended well, the little bit of action there is. Sorry, but I do not think it was a great book! ( )

Macadoo will win your heart! This is the story of Macadoo, a Belgian draft horse. The story is told through Macadoo's perspective. Macadoo's brave, loyal, and funny personality caught my attention in the first few chapters and I was worried for him as he faced auctions and rooting for him as he found new owners who treated him well. Great writing, exciting story, and lovable characters will make this book a winner with kids who love horses or animal stories. This is the second Maury River book. Chancey of Maury River is the first and I am excited to go back and read it! Recommended for ages 9 and up. ( )

Macadoo was a very sweet children’s book about a horse. It’s no Black Beauty, but is nicely narrated by the horse. Overall this is a good book for elementary-age horse lovers. As an adult, I felt there were some issues—the stallion, Macadoo’s father, seems to have a sense of history of the Belgian breed which somehow felt unbelievable, and had also anger issues, which didn’t fit the warmth, kindness, and mission of being helpful that Macadoo and his dam are ‘bred’ as Belgians to have. Also, there were several spots where a transition sentence could have eased an abrupt change in the story (two of these were early in the book and the book improved as it went on).

But I think young horse lovers will enjoy the idea of a large, calm horse being kind to students, therapeutic riding clients, and vaulting beginners. I requested to review this book because my daughter is a vaulter—and the vaulting parts of the book might intrigue younger riders who haven’t seen or heard of vaulting before. A solid 3 star read. ( )