Review: Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg

Wild Horse Scientists by Kay Frydenborg. A Scientists in the Field Book.

Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: November 2012
List Price: $18.99
ISBN-13: 9780547518312

Review: Are you curious about wild horses? Do you want to read about them and the scientists who work hard out on the field with them to study and protect them? Then I am sure that you will enjoy reading Wild Horse Scientists , a nonfiction book by Kay Frydenborg. This very enjoyable book is full of fascinating facts about wild horses and the jobs of the scientists who study them.

Around 1971 a law was passed that gave wild horses almost total protection from human destruction. Later that year, a great biologist named Jay Kirkpatrick was asked to find a way to make wild horses stop reproducing. Jay was sure that he could. He did not know that it would take him so long or that his first try would fail very badly. Wild Horse Scientists provides much information about the ancestors of wild horses, their location today, and debate over control of them.

In my opinion, the most appropriate audience for this book is people who are interested in research about wildlife and the evolution of horses. If you are interested in biology and horses, this would be a fantastic book for you. Wild Horse Scientists has a lot of interesting information about horses, their origins and evolution, the different types, the story of how man changed its history, and the present state of the wild horse. For example, the oldest known ancestor of the horse is a rabbit like creature that lived about 55 millions years ago. The author provides excellent and detailed information. For instance, she defines the difference between horses and ponies, which is that ponies have shorter legs and thicker fur. This book contains pages of interesting information such as telling that horse was still wild about 6,000 years ago in Europe and Asia, until some brave men tamed them around 4,300 B.C. The book states that presently, wild horses can be found in the US, at Assateague State Park, on the coast of Maryland. The horses are managed and observed by scientists, but people can also go and watch them. The author writes about the debate as to whether wild horses should be removed from their land and placed in adoption. Many people disagree with these actions because they feel that it is inhumane to control the horse population in this manner. This book not only provides information about the horses themselves, but it will also motivate the reader to want to learn more about wild horses, and perhaps visit them at one of the state parks where they are running wild.

Review written by Ignacio (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin for providing a copy of Wild Horse Scientists for this review.

Have you read Wild Horse Scientists? How would you rate it?