Mikko the Magnificent Magician

This story is about the longaEUR"e;lasting effects of kindness and the importance of "e;giving back."e; While the main character of the story is a little boy who discovers at an early age that he has the "e;gifts"e; of amazing dexterity, agility, sleight of hand, and "e;charm,"e; the focus of the story is the plight of a family who moves to a small town in New England after the father lost his job during a devastating economic downturn. With barely enough money to feed his family, the dad was forced to sell his treasured old truck. But most painful for the family was the necessity to find a new home for their beloved Welsh pony, because they could no longer afford the cost of feeding, boarding, and grooming him. When the family first arrived in the small town, they had no way of knowing that they were about to experience the warm and loving kindness of the town's people aEUR"e; and the lifeaEUR"e;altering difference that kindness made to one little boy by the name of Mikko.