I Love You More Than Horses - Hardcover

by Katrina H. Mintz (Author)

I Love You More Than Horses is a tender, luminous children's book that invites young readers into the quiet magic of the barn, where love is learned through listening, gentleness, and the everyday holiness of caring for animals. Rooted in Southern warmth and shaped by the author's lifelong experience as an educator and horsewoman, this story offers families and classrooms a gentle, emotionally rich way to explore character formation and social-emotional learning.

Chic Chic, a wise and warm grandmother, spends her days teaching Emmett and Sutton how to move through the world with presence and kindness. Together, they groom horses, breathe in the morning light, whisper goodnight to the herd, and discover that every small act of care carries a lesson. Through moments with Paris, Luna, Reese, Apache, and even the barn cat Ocho, the children learn five guiding truths: Presence, Authenticity, Reverence, Integrity, and Stewardship - virtues that align directly with the CASEL social-emotional learning competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills.

With soft, evocative illustrations and a storytelling voice that feels both timeless and intimate, I Love You More Than Horses celebrates the bond between generations and the way animals help us grow into our best selves. It honors the barn as one of life's most sacred classrooms - a place where children learn to listen deeply, care faithfully, and show up with their whole hearts.

This book is ideal for parents, teachers, counselors, equine-facilitated learning practitioners, and anyone seeking stories that nurture emotional literacy and character development. It is perfect for bedtime reading, classroom shelves, social-emotional learning units, and family libraries.

To support educators, the author provides a free Educator's Guide on her website, offering discussion questions, SEL connections, vocabulary support, and extension activities that help children apply the book's lessons in real-world contexts.

I Love You More Than Horses is the first title in the More Than Horses series - a six-book collection in which each future book will explore one of the five virtues in depth. This opening volume introduces the full constellation of traits, laying a foundation for the individual character-trait books to come.

At its heart, this story carries a simple, unforgettable message: Love is shown through listening, tending, and being fully present with the ones entrusted to us.