SuitabookWild colt
Lois Szymanski
- Reading
- Read it slowly as a shared picture book: pause to identify the animals and wetland details, listen for the rhyme, then discuss what Pony Penning means for the colt and the people involved.
- Themes
- Animal life in a coastal habitat: The colt follows his herd through summer days, running by the ocean, bucking and kicking, chasing mosquitoes, and observing turtles and deer at a water hole. The book appears to combine a narrative viewpoint with information about the colt’s habitat and surrounding wildlife.
- Human involvement with wild ponies: The colt’s story continues until he is rounded up during the wild pony auction and Pony Penning on Chincoteague Island. The event is included as a significant change in the colt’s circumstances, but its treatment could be celebratory, troubling, factual or mixed.
- Worth knowing
- The roundup, Pony Penning and wild pony auction deserve a little preparation because they introduce capture and human management into the colt’s experience. The book’s stance towards these practices is not clear.