Joan Elma Rahn

I liked this book for many reasons. One thing that I really liked about this book was the plot. I feel that these animals do not get very much recognition and I thought the author did a great job of showing the role that they have played in the world’s history. For example, she explains how people in central Asia often relied on these animals for their meat. I also liked the language that the author used. She used very descriptive language that helped the reader develop a strong image of show more what she was trying to portray. For example, when explaining that horses were hunted for their meat, she goes on to explain that, “horsemeat is nutritious and tastes something like beef.” When explaining how these wild horses looked, she describes them by saying, “the hairs of their short manes stood upright.” She goes on to say that, “their overall color was yellow dun, but they had a dark mane, its color continuing as a dark stripe along the back to the tail.” These descriptions really helped me gain a vivid picture of what these animals looked like. I also liked that she included small illustrations throughout the book. For example, in one part of the book there are three pictures of different size horses and a caption explaining how they have evolved. I thought that this enhanced the story by allowing the reader to use this illustration to help them understand what they have read. I also like that she included maps throughout the book of the different regions she was discussing, such as the map of North America with the highlighted grasslands. I believe that the message of this story is that although it is not fully recognized, horses have been around for a very long time and are a vital part of our history. show less

NA