Simon, whose award-winning books have covered the spectrum from vehicles to weather to the human body, turns his attention to an animal whose history has been linked to that of human beings for tens of thousands of years. As is usual in Simon's recent science books, photographs, carefully keyed to the text, draw readers in. Though the photos of horses in motion are less effective in showing how the animal moves than a diagram might have been, some of the other pictures are nothing short of spectacular, especially one of a pair of jumpers, photographed from below as they clear a fence at twilight. Comprehensive? No. Rather, Simon has pulled together a variety of information to give children a concise but memorable, even dignified picture of the magnificent beast and how its relationship to humankind has evolved and changed.

With his trademark felicity of language, Simon describes the unique characteristics of horses and their relationship with people. Well-organized and clearly comprehensible, the text relates common horse topics in ways meaningful to children's experiences. Although captions would have supported points in the text better, the crisp photos in the book showcase the beauty of the species.

Well-conceived, beautifully presented horse books abound, so surely there's no need to sacrifice trees for this one, which reads like a poorly organized encyclopedia article, except that encyclopedias rarely make so many mistakes. Horses teeth do wear down, but they also keep growing, so they get longer, not shorter, as the horse ages. Bays and chestnuts are not types of brown horses. Thoroughbreds are a type of hotblood, but a polo pony is not necessarily a Thoroughbred. In the photo of the Amish woman, whatever she's driving, it isn't a plow. And so on. All minor points, but they abound, and combined with the stilted writing, add up to the impression that Simon knows very little about horses at all. The photos look like a standard horse calendar. Don't bother. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)

K-Gr 3-Simon provides the basic facts, which include the importance of horses to humans throughout history, their evolution, physical traits, interactions among themselves, and the various breeds. The information is clear and accurate. The striking color photos will capture readers' attention. However, it's unfortunate that they lack captions, particularly when showing different breeds. Children will pore over the photos and garner enough information from the text to make this book a popular introductory choice.-Carol Schene, Taunton Public Schools, MA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.