When Walter Farley brews a mixture of boy, horses, mysterious island, and Spanish treasure, he has fare irresistible to 10-14-year-old readers: "The Island Stallion" will be just as popular as his "Black Stallion" tales.
Since childhood Steve Duncan has longed for a horse. He goes with his archaeologist friend Pitch, to a lonely Caribbean island because he hears there are wild horses, descendants of those left by Spanish Conquistadores, for anyone to capture…. How Steve wins the red stallion's confidence and saves his life and how he and Pitch uncover Spanish gold keep the story moving to the very end. Through it the author's sure understanding of a boy's yearning for a horse comes right up from the pages.
Margaret C. Scoggin, "Books for Young People: 'The Island Stallion'," in New York Herald Tribune Book Review (© I.H.T. Corporation; reprinted by permission), Vol. 25, No. 10, October 24, 1948, p. 10.
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