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Mary Pope Osborne's Stallion by Starlight is a Magic Tree House adventure for 7 year olds about a wild black horse and a prince who thinks he's a god.
Merlin himself turns up in Frog Creek, with Penny the little penguin, because he's been pondering a big question. What makes a person truly great? Jack and Annie are to find out on their next four missions, starting with Alexander the Great.
Merlin gives them a Ring of Truth that glows when they learn a real secret of greatness. He also gives them a bottle of magic mist. One sniff, and for one hour they can be brilliant at anything they wish.
The tree house lands in ancient Macedonia, among olive trees and marching soldiers. Before long Annie has told a teacher in the market square that the Earth goes round the Sun. The teacher turns out to be Aristotle, and he's more amazed that a girl has a theory at all (Annie is NOT impressed, and Jack has to explain that people thought like that a long time ago).
And Alexander the Great himself? He's twelve. He's also a show-off who says he's a living Greek god and the greatest athlete in the world. Jack writes "This guy's a raving nut" in his notebook, and then the prince asks to read it! Jack's excuses are very funny.
Alexander beats Jack in a race up a hill in the blazing heat and doesn't even help him up. But then the grooms bring out a black stallion called Bucephalus, who won't let anyone ride him. When a groom cracks a whip, Alexander is the one who shouts at them to stop.
That's the lovely turn in this one. Annie notices that the prince's father snaps at him every time he opens his mouth, and decides "Love is always a good place to start." Maybe Alexander isn't just mean after all. Maybe he's lonely.
The horse scenes are the heart of it. When they use the magic mist, Jack and Annie can suddenly hear what Bucephalus is thinking, and he's sad because his master is lost and isn't coming back. It's gentle and a bit heart-tugging (have tissues nearby if your reader is a horse lover).
It's mostly quick, easy dialogue, with plenty of brother and sister teasing and a bit of real history slipped in along the way.
If horses are what they loved, go back to Ghost Town at Sundown. Annie remembers that Wild West trip here, and it's where they learned the horse rules they use on Bucephalus.
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