The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy

Cultural origins: This is an American story written by Carl Sandburg as a balm to soothe him and all those who suffered after World War II. His book Rootabaga Stories was one of narrative poetry as this story clearly illustrates with its rhythm and imagery, telling the story of two children who leave their lives in search of the place where the white horses come from and blue winds begin.

Intended audience: All Ages (8 and up)

Why this audience?: This is a story that can transport anyone. It is almost like a song that sweeps over an audience and settles them there sleepily. An older audience can decipher the story and ask questions: Is there such a place as where the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy end up? Is the man on the gray horse telling the truth? Are they happy where they are? Should we chase the beginnings of our passions? The younger audience will imagine brilliantly white horses and magical winds that ask questions. It's not long enough to get boring, just before the audience gets comfortable hearing the story it is over.

Characters: The White Horse Girl
                       The Blue Wind Boy
                       The Man on a Gray Horse
                        Rootabaga Country folk
                        

Scenes/Settings: Rootabaga country, the mountains
                                 Where the white horses come from and the blue winds begin

Synopsis: When the dishes are washed and the lamps are lit in Rootabaga Country they tell the story of the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy. The White Horse Girl loved riding, and running with her ponies. Three wild ponies of snow, washed sheep's wool, and white silver. Her neighbor, the Blue Wind Boy took to climbing the mountains and talking to the winds that came and went with the day: the blue wind of the day, the blue wind of the night and stars and that tricky blue wind of the time around dusk and dawn between the night and day. The two found each other and ran off together in search of the place where these horses and winds came from, leaving a note for their families and friends. When a stranger arrived on a gray horse the people of Rootabaga Country asked him if he had seen the two children. He said that he had, they were in a place years from there where the white horses came from and the blue winds began. It was their place.

Story Climaxes/High Points: The man on the gray horse approaches and knows of the whereabouts of the White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy. He explains that they are in a place years away watching the blue wind and the white horses.

Special Chants/Phrases: 
The letter: "To All Our Sweethearts, Old Folks, and Young Folks: We have started to where the white horses come from and where the blue winds begin. Keep a corner in your hearts for us while we are gone. White Horse Girl. Blue Wind Boy"

Gray man asks them: "Whose place is this?" 
They answer: "It belongs to us; this is what we started for; this is where the white horses come from; this is where the blue wind begins."

Narrator Ending: Anyhow, this is the story they tell sometimes to the young people of the west Rootabaga Country when the dishes are washed at night and the cool of the evening has come in summer or the lamps and fires are lit for the night in winter.

Bibliographic Information:

Birch, Carol. (2010). The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy. In Storytelling; Art and Technique (pp. 320 - 324). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.