There is only one thing Winky wants: a horse, a real horse to ride. But horses are expensive. Fortunately it is the season of Saint Nicholas; Winky just asks him for a horse. Then everything will work out alright. Or will it?

Life is cruel for little Winky. She has been forced to leave her native China for the mysterious and distressing world of a place named Holland. But she gradually adapts and finds solace by becoming attached to Sara, an old pony. Of course her parents would never allow her to have a horse but at school she learns that an old man with a white beard called Santa Claus brings presents to all the good children in Holland. She just has to ask him.—Guy Bellinger