599.6

Traces the work of two wildlife veterinarians who protect and chart the lives of Assateague Island's wild horses, describing their shared efforts to balance the horses' ecosystem and raise awareness. ( )

Read more at my blog - Naturally Speaking
http://nancycastaldonaturespeak.blogspot.com

Price: $18.99 Grade Level: M/J Number of Pages: 80
VOYA Rating: 4Q 2P

Recommended as Additional Purchase

This is a very thoroughly researched non-fiction book on wild horses on Assateague Island, a barrier island between Maryland and Virginia. The full color photographs are beautiful and illustrate the facts that the author is writing about. It will give readers a really good idea about what the island and the horses look like. Scientists are trying to control the horse population on the island so it can sustain them. The horses are injected with an equine contraceptive vaccine that limits them to one foal in a lifetime. This book contains a glossary, recommended resources (including print and internet sources), source notes, index, how to help and places to see wild horses in America. Students will learn how different types of scientists work with the horses depending on their field of study. They will also learn about how the federal government manages the wild horses and the island they live on. Readers will see scientific observation in action as well as different types of lab and fieldwork. They are great real life examples of what scientists do.

This would be a good book for middle school grades exploring careers. I would think that most students outside of Maryland and Virginia will not have heard of Assateague Island, so they will learn some geography. Kids who still love horses and ponies will be drawn to this book. I think this is a pretty niche book that will appeal to those with an interest in horses. The pages on contraception are a mature subject, but students should be able to infer meaning from the text. I think the book is beautiful and well done, but know your school library community to determine student interest. ( )

While you can rest assured that any entry in the Scientists in the Field books is going to be well-researched and contain great back matter, the subject of this one was a miss for me. Maybe it's because I've never really cared about horses much, but I feel like a whole book basically about horse birth control might strain the interest of even die-hard horse book fans. Okay, there is additional info about the history of horses, how selective breeding developed different color patterns, and the history and care of wild horses in the US. But the bulk of the narrative describes how and why scientists developed a birth control vaccine to control the population of wild horses. ( )