From the inception of Steve through a couple of picture books to now a new graphic novel series, Kelly Collier shares Steve the horse with many more readers in Steve, A Pretty Exceptional Horse.

Steve is a horse but questions whether he is exceptional like the peacock he meets in the forest. When he does find something that makes him exceptional, things go awry as they typically do for Steve and in the end he learns a valuable lesson about himself.

We LOVE Steve! This sassy horse has been a family favourite since the first picture book: A Horse Named Steve. Similarly to how Cale Atkinson has brought his characters of Simon and Chester to more readers, Kelly Collier is expanding Steve’s universe and his appeal through the first in what I hope will be a very popular series of graphic novels. If your reader loves Simon and Chester or Narwhal and Jelly, Steve, A Pretty Exceptional Horse is a book for them.

I love how through Steve readers can explore their own identities and what makes them stand out or be exceptional. Perhaps it’s a horn on the top of their head or perhaps its just being authentically themselves that makes them exceptional. Steve has a very funny way of showing readers that even in failure, they can still be exceptional.

The illustrations are hilariously exaggerated. Readers will fall in love with Steve and all of his forest friends through their expressive facial expressions and exaggerated postures. Readers will even love recreating Steve and his friends in their own drawings. I love the simply but eye catching colour palette of blues, browns, yellows and whites to make Steve really stand out in the crowd.