Lynn Sonberg

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I enjoyed the book, because it was written in a very mellow tone of voice, considering it is an informational book. It was a "subtle" informational book. It was not an informational book that just throws a lot of facts at you. For example, the book reads, "Paris's light gray coat shows every bit of dirt. When the weather is warm, he is hosed and bathed. Special horse shampoo is used to make his coat shine. Amanda is very careful not to spray water in his ears. A little water can lead to infection or if water blocks the ear, a horse can lose its balance." This paragraph gives the reader new information on horses and grooming, without making it seem like the reader is learning at all. I thought this was very cool. This is especially an advantage for children, because it is good for them to learn while they are enjoying a book. Not to mention, the reader does not realize that they are learning new things about horses in general, because of the way it is written. The one thing I did not like about the book was the flow of the writing. Because this is an informational book in disguise, and there are not any headings or titles, the book is choppy. For example, on one page, the author explains how the horse's shoes are made and how the hooves are groomed, and on the following page, the paragraph starts with, "Paris has never been sick, but one summer he cut his nostril on the latch to his stall..." I felt as if that may be confusing to readers because the author jumps from horse shoe making, to Paris cutting his nose. One thing that really stood out to me were the illustrations. All of the pictures were real photographs, they were large in size, and very detailed. For example, on the page about shoe making, the left side has the paragraph of writing, and the whole right side of the book is just the picture. The picture encompasses a man with an apron bending over as he holds the horse's leg up in order to mold the hoof to the shoe. The photo is very detailed and matches the text well. All of the photos are descriptive and relevant to the text they are paired with. I also liked how the author added characters to the book. Instead of making it a general book on horses and what owning a horse entails, the author wrote the book about a specific horse owner, Amanda and brought the horse to life by giving it a name, Paris. The introduction of the book reads, “This book is about Paris, a dapple gray horse who is barded at a small stable called Westernese Farm on Long Island.” I liked the integration of characters because it makes the book a lot more interesting, especially for children.… (mer)