CM Magazine: Still Crazy for Horses.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VIII Number 12 . . . . February 15, 2002

Still Crazy for Horses.

Karen Briggs and Shawn Hamilton.
Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2001.
37 pp., pbk., $5.99.
ISBN 0-439-98776-8.

Subject Heading:
Horses-Juvenile literature.

Grades 5-9 / Ages 10-14.

Review by Meredith MacKeen.

**** /4

excerpt:

The pride of Scotland is the noble Clydesdale horse. Of all the draft breeds, it's the Clydesdale that is the flashiest, fanciest horse in harness. He sports big splashes of white on his face, on his legs (often reaching up past his knees and hocks) and sometimes even on his belly. And this gentle giant has lots of silky "feathers" on his legs, which sway like a decorative fringe as he trots down the road or across the show ring. The Clydesdale breed takes its name from the River Clyde, which flows through the region of Scotland in which he first originated back in the mid 1700s.

Still Crazy for Horses provides beautiful pictures of various breeds of horses and an overview of their characteristics and history. The following breeds are included: Rocky Mountain Horse, Connemara, Friesan, Akhal-Teke, Clydesdale, Bashkir Curly, Haflinger, Norwegian Fjord, Exmoor pony, hackney, mustang, Newfoundland pony, Australian Stock horse, Percheron, and Belgian Trakehner and Tennesse Walking Horse. The first page reviews the birth of a foal up to his weaning from the mare, and the last page is a list of websites and addresses of various associations for the different breeds of horse. There are two coloured photos of each breed, one being an 8.5 x 11, and as well a pull-out poster.

As an inexpensive, attractive photo album, Still Crazy for Horses is sure to find appeal among upper elementary students who love horses. In some of the details of place of origin and of prominent colours, this book differs from The Ultimate Horse by Elwyn Hartley Edwards (Dorling Kindersley, 1991), but, given that the main purpose of this book is to interest readers in various breeds of horses, it succeeds very well. A most useful additional to the recreational reading collection.

Highly Recommended.

Meredith MacKeen is a teacher-librarian at Glen Stewart School, Stratford, P.E.I.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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