Horses (A Day in the Life) and Neon Squid
Horses (A Day in the Life) is another fabulous title from the non-fiction children’s experts Neon Squid. If you’ve read reviews from me previously you’ll know I’m thrilled with what I’ve been discovering from this new children’s book publisher.
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Neon Squid books are written by experts in their field. There’s a real passion in the way Dr Carly Anne York writes Horses (A Day in the Life) and you can tell that horses have a very special place in her heart.
‘A Day in the Life’ Series – Neon Squid
This is one of several titles in Neon Squid’s ‘A Day in the Life’ series. It’s such a great concept for a book. It captures and intertwines the lives of several species across the world over a 24 hour period.
Non-Fiction Essentials
You’ve got the usual non-fiction essentials – contents, glossary and index to help children navigate the book and to give meaning more technical vocabulary. One thing I would mention is that words in bold in the text don’t correspond to an entry in a glossary. I find the use of bold words in the text a nice way to help break up the paragraphs in the writing for early readers.
Age Recommendation – Horses (A Day in the Life)
Horses (A Day in the Life) is perfectly accessible for children independently from around 7/8 years + and further into primary school. Floss (now 6) has enjoyed reading this book together and dipping in and out of sections.
Fascinating Facts
There’s lots of interesting facts and things that I didn’t know to discover in the book. For children who are really into horses this would be a perfect gift. Although, Floss and I aren’t massive horse fans and we really enjoyed learning about the habitats and habits of the different species.
The wealth and range of information means there is something for everyone. I particularly enjoyed the part about Przewalski (shuh-VAL-skee) horses that roam free in the scarcely inhabited city of Chernobyl in Ukraine.
I actually really liked that the book didn’t tell you what had happened to make Chernobyl an abandoned city. This like several other points in the book would make lovely spring boards for further investigation if it’s something that piques your child’s interest.
One spread shows the evolution of horses through history and again this would be a good opportunity for children to place this new knowledge alongside what they may already know about – for example – dinosaurs.
Horses (A Day in the Life) Illustrations
Both through the words and illustrations you get the similarities and differences of these incredible species of horses. There’s a generous balance of images to text that’s perfect for those becoming more independent readers. The text is also not overly obscured by images.
The illustrations are beautifully captivating and Chaaya Prahbhat truly encapsulates the spirit of these incredible mammals and their varying surroundings across the globe. Floss’s favourite spread was of the brown foal with Camargue mother in the wetlands of the South of France. For me I adored the amalgamation of Chaaya’s illustrations used on the wonderful front cover.
Thanks to the lovely Malu at Neon Squid for sending this title to us for review. We still haven’t met a Neon Squid title we don’t love! Horses (A Day in the Life) is the perfect book for any animal lover or fact seeker.
For more information or to purchase Horses (A Day in the Life) use the links below.
Our horses are the brand Holztiger and were from Yes Bebe. You can get 15% off your first purchase from Yes Bebe using this link.