Like many girls, A has loved horses her whole life so when we were given the opportunity to review History on Horseback: The Early Years by Sonrise Stable Books we jumped on it. Our family also really enjoys history. A absolutely loves reading!
A with our book.
A closer view
A has been reading this series independently and she is really enjoying it. She likes the unique approach of this book and that it talks about different horses throughout history, instead of only focusing on the people. For example, most people could tell you a little about Paul Revere - most likely that he was the one to sound the alarm that the British were coming. However, what about the horse he rode on that trip, Brown Beauty?
A never thought about Thomas Jefferson having horses and yet he owned many horses and enjoyed riding them. He actually rode horses daily until he couldn't anymore, a few weeks prior to his death. A loves reading about how horses participated in history, whether it was pulling wagons, riding into battle, helping send messages, etc.
This book is the first volume in a series that the author predicts to have three volumes eventually reaching the present day. While it will appeal to horse lovers and history buff alike, the target age for this series is 12 years and beyond. History on Horseback: The Early Years has 53 chapters with just under 200 pages in all. Chapters are not long, each chapter is ~ 2 - 4 pages. It is nonfiction and is full of factual information about horses, historical characters and events. We love all the historical photos throughout the book.
Like a gold prospector sifting for gold nuggets, Vicki Watson dug into history to find horse stories and share all of the gold nuggets she found for this book. I love the unique approach of this book to spark an interest in studying history and finding and uncovering those interesting nuggets.
The back cover of our book.
Like a gold prospector sifting for gold nuggets, Vicki Watson dug into history to find horse stories and share all of the gold nuggets she found for this book. I love the unique approach of this book to spark an interest in studying history and finding and uncovering those interesting nuggets.
A look at the Contents
This book covers the early years, 1493 to 1866. It begins with the arrival of horses in American with the Spanish Explorers and covers through just after the Civil War. Its primary focus is American History.
A is currently about halfway through this book. I have no doubt she will finish it soon!
Learning about Brown Beauty's role in carrying Paul Revere.
A never thought about Thomas Jefferson having horses and yet he owned many horses and enjoyed riding them. He actually rode horses daily until he couldn't anymore, a few weeks prior to his death. A loves reading about how horses participated in history, whether it was pulling wagons, riding into battle, helping send messages, etc.
A list of the horses Jefferson owned over the years.
This book is fascinating to just read on its own, which is how we are using it with A. It also makes a great supplemental history curriculum. It would pair nicely with a variety of choices. There is currently a study guide in the works that when completed with the resources would make this a complete curriculum on its own! We look forward to seeing this study guide. If you are a horse lover or history buff, we recommend checking out History on Horseback: The Early Years.Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of History on Horseback: The Early Years. Also check out the fun video from the author explaining more about this series!
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What an interesting approach to history! I expect there are lots of stories most of us have never heard.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds absolutely interesting. I had no idea what the book would be like - thank you so much for letting us get a peak inside it.
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