My Friend Flicka introduces a small cast of major characters, supported by important animal characters and minor human characters. Ken McLaughlin, his parents, and his brother command most of the reader's attention.

Ken, a relatively small ten-year-old, is a brilliant dreamer. He lives most fully in his imagination, losing himself in pictures such as the Audubon print on the stairs or the peasant scenes in his bedroom. He can block out the outside world completely, often with disastrous results, as when he does not even begin to write his final examination essay, or when he stampedes his father's horses and nearly causes them to go over a cliff.

Ken's brother, Howard, is everything that Ken is not: tall, outgoing, competitive, and responsible. He constantly teases Ken and gets him into trouble, but, even so, the boys share a good deal of camaraderie. Throughout much...