Informational Books for Elementary School Students

¶ … children: Horses

Informational book 1: Everything Horse: What kids really want to know about horses

The book Everything Horse: What kids really want to know about horses is designed to be a basic, introductory text for horse-crazy kids. The book is also useful, from an adult's perspective, because it introduces children to ideas and concepts that better enable children to understand history and the natural world. The horse has played an important role in how the land was settled and also is a very unique animal. The book is structured along the lines of a series of questions that children are likely to have about horses such as "Why are horses mounted from the left?" "Do horses think?," "Why do horses wear shoes?," and "What was the Pony Express?"

By approaching the subject matter from this point-of-view, the book is able to 'hook' the young reader into reading further. The reader has likely wondered about at least some of the questions, and hearing his or her own voice in the words of the book creates a sense of intimacy between reader and author.

The main criticism of the book is that the questions are somewhat disorganized. The first question -- "Did horses come from dinosaurs?" And "Why were horses used in warfare?" are mainly historical in nature, followed by questions like "Do horses sleep standing up" that focus generally on horse behavior and conformation. But there is no clear progression from "Why do horses wear shoes" to "What is a gait?" The book ends with a series of random factoids called 'straight from the horse's mouth.'

The book does not contain a glossary, and some of the vocabulary may be rather advanced for the intended audience of ages 8-11. However, the question-and-answer format does allow the author to explain vocabulary that is likely to be unfamiliar to the reader, such as what a farrier does and the differences between a walk, trot and canter.

Informational book 2: Cherry Hill's Horse Care for Kids

This book, written by a well-known professional rider, is designed to educate the young reader in how to care for a horse of his or her own, and includes many facts about horses to illustrate how to groom, feed, and stable a horse. Different aspects of horse behavior and care are allocated to different chapters, and the book is logically sequenced, beginning with general information and gradually proceeding to understanding how to care for the animal. The book shows great respect for the young reader's intelligence and explains such concepts as how the fact that a horse is a prey animal and herd-bound affects his or her behavior with humans. Horses are wonderful creatures, but they are not human, and they must be understood on their own terms.

The book is likely to be interesting to young readers because it combines practical and scientific information. For example, one diagram details a horse's 'blind spots.' It shows how a horse sees the world differently from a human being, but it also is essential to know this information so as not to startle a horse when handling him. There is a detailed glossary and also check lists of things to do when caring for a horse in the spring, summer, winter, and fall.