2011 TOP CHRISTMAS TOYS

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" is a short story by D. H. Lawrence. It was first published in July 1926 in Harper's Bazaar and subsequently appeared in the first volume of Lawrence's collected short stories. It was made into a film under the same title in 1950, directed by Anthony Pelissier and starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson.
The story describes a young middle-class Englishwoman who "had no luck". Though outwardly successful, she is haunted by a sense of failure; the family's lifestyle exceeds its income, and unspoken anxiety about money permeate the household. Her children, a son Paul and two younger sisters, sense this anxiety.
The rocking-horse magically gives Paul advance knowledge of the winners of important races such as the Ascot. Paul's uncle, Oscar Cresswell, and Bassett, the gardener and Cresswell's former batman, both place large bets on the horses Paul names. After further winning, Paul and Oscar arrange to give the mother a gift of five thousand pounds, but the gift only lets her spend more. Disappointed, Paul tries harder than ever to be lucky, and we learn that his secret is to ride his rocking-horse until he "knows". As the Derby (presumably the Epsom Derby) approaches, Paul is determined to learn the winner.
Paul faints and remains ill through the day of the Derby. Informed by Cresswell, Bassett has placed Paul's bet on Malabar, at fourteen to one. When he is informed by Bassett that he now has 80,000 pounds (equivalent to 2006's 3 million pounds or 6 million U.S. dollars), Paul says to his mother:
"I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure – oh absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!"
"No, you never did," said his mother.
But the boy died in the night.

I think this set would be great for a boys redwork quilt
these cards are sometimes called Pricked sewing cards or punched sewing cards