Sunday, April 11, 2010

Soccer-Playing Colt Gives Lessons to Pre-teens(Colt Apparel)

Colt Apparel

Austin, TX (PRWEB) February 1, 2006 -- Adventure, sports, and humor are right down the alley for young boys between 8 and 12 years old. Dan Peterson, in his book “Fergus, The Soccer-Playing Colt” (Raven Publishing, ISBN 0971415176, 2005) provides comic relief with a conscience.

Fergus, a palomino colt at Simpson Farms, displays unusual talents. Besides twirling in the air and executing daring back flips, Fergus loves to play soccer. Bobby Simpson and his friend, Ramon, set up a goal in the pasture and let Fergus guard it while they practice penalty kicks and heading the ball. The agile colt blocks all their shots. He flicks the ball off his nose or whirls around and kicks it with his back feet.

Soon the local news, then CNN and other networks feature the golden goalkeeper. People flock to the farm to watch Fergus play with the boys. All the publicity boosts the popularity of soccer in the United States, drawing the attention of Ian Connor from the International Soccer Federation. He asks to “borrow” Fergus and the boys for a fourteen-city tour promoting the colt and the sport of soccer. The boys’ parents agree and the tour launches successfully with Fergus enjoying the matches and playing flawlessly. All goes well until the colt is horse-napped partway through the tour by three bad guys who scheme to turn him into a bucking rodeo champ. The rest of the story relates Fergus’s struggles and his return to Simpson Farms.

Peterson modeled Fergus after his own palomino horse which he raised from a weanling. “The book is based loosely on that horse. He could open gates, get grain out of an old tire; he would also carry around a ball (with a handle on it) or anything else he could pick up that interested him,” explains Peterson.

“Fergus” has a message for the readers. According to Peterson, his preteen audiences learn “that differences are a good thing and not a bad thing; that teamwork is a good way to accomplish goals.” Peterson, when asked he wants his readers to know, he states, “I am 65 and have never given up wanting to get something published, showing that anything is possible when you stay with it.”

Peterson is a co-owner, with his wife, of Alphabet Station, an educational supply store in Salt Lake City and Orem, Utah. He has a degree in journalism and served as editor for three trade publications, as well as developed and evaluated curricula.

Colt Apparel