Horses by Seymour Simon (1 bk)

Simon Seymour. (2006). Horses. New York: HarperCollins. 32 pages. ISBN # 0-06-
028944-9

Award: Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2007

Grade: K-4th

Genre: informational

Credibility of author: the New York Times calls Simon Seymour “the dear of the (children’s science book) field”. He has won the Science Books & Films Key Award for Excellence in Science Books, the Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people, and the Educational Paperback Association Jerimiah Ludington Award. The author acknowledges thanks to Patrick Thomas, Ph.D., Curator of Mammals, Bronx Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society, for his expert advice. Photo credits go to various photographers from Photo Researchers, Inc.

Summary: This book describes the history of horses from their ancestors that lived fifty-five million years ago to the present. It provides interesting facts about the horse’s life cycle and the role it plays in today’s world. Along with all the detailed descriptions, there are beautiful photographs to satisfy the horse lover in all of us.

Standards: Life Science IV, Science in Personal and Social VII: Life Science

Illustrations: full page color photographs throughout the book

Text structure: narrative

Classification: life-cycle book

Content Area: science

Tone: conversational

Voice: The author conveys his fascination and admiration of horses

Access features: author’s note

Use: This book could be used during a variety of units of study. I would use this book while studying a unit on mammals, transportation, Native Americans, or explorers (horses were brought to America by Spanish explorers and used to battle Native Americans and for trade). I would use this book as a read aloud for younger children and independent reading for older children.

Response: I have always loved horses, but didn’t really know a lot about them. I learned a lot of interesting facts about horses while reading this book. I had never really thought about the important role that horses played in the development of civilizations. I believe all children will enjoy this book because of the beautiful illustrations as well as the information.

Related texts: Seymour Simon’s most recent books that follow this same structure of descriptive narrative includes the following: Cats, Dogs, Spiders, Tornadoes, and Eyes and Ears