Jane Scaletta with her latest book, and Samsara Leung, age 7, a fan of Kimbo at Hobbies & Books. Photo by Steven Knipp.

By Steven Knipp
steve@caymannetnews.com

Children’s book author Jane Scaletta was born in Jamaica in the early 1960s and boldly rode her first horse at the tender age of three. And thus began a genuinely enduring love affair with all things equine which lasts to this very day.

Her passion for horses is now shared with her daughter, Ashley, to whom she would read bedtime stories, making up the tales of various adventures with her horse. Ashley herself rode her first horse at the age of four, saying to her mom, “Make it go!” Today Ashley has her own Painted Pony named Francie, which she taught to jump.

Jane herself has had horses all her life and never misses an opportunity to attend a horse show. After attending boarding school in England in the 1970s, where she continued riding whenever possible, she moved to Miami, where she continued to stay active with horses, working with various thoroughbred horse farms.

She attended the University of Florida and initially intended to pursue a career as veterinary doctor. But in 1980 a serious accident interrupted her schooling. Jane continued her fervour for horses by working for a large Arabian horse farm.

She later moved from Miami to Orlando in central Florida, where she went to work for a dinner attraction featuring horses and riders. For Jane, this was a genuine dream job, because it allowed her an ample opportunity to work with many different breeds of horses, while simultaneously helping to maintain the gentle creatures’ mental and physical health.

Children who love animals, especially horses, will enjoy the Kimbo stories. The colourful illustrations complement the text very nicely and make the characters come to life.

In between the fun, the author manages to cleverly slip in some key concepts for young children, such as politeness, friendship, dedication, trust and the satisfying results of hard work. Children can relate to the choice that Kimbo has to make between spending time with his best friends, or working hard to prepare for his first horse show.

Today Jane makes her home both in Miami, and in Cayman, which she shares with her daughter, Ashley, husband, Christian.