Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia

Be the first to write a review

Want to read this on your NOOK? Request as NOOK Book from the publisher

Thank you for requesting this book as a NOOK book from the publisher.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Editorial Reviews
Product Details

Advertising

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature

The world-traveling Lewins take us to Mongolia for the summer festival of Naadam, where legendary child jockeys race half wild horses. The hero of their story, nine-year-old Tamir, is a composite of the real children they met at the festival. We share a tent with them at the training camp, eat traditional foods, and watch the many preparations. On the day of the race, it is pandemonium, trying to get the horses in line as they run. Tamir manages to come in first in the race. Ceremonies end with the awarding of prizes and the traditional "horse song." Ted Lewin's watercolors describe events with compelling naturalism. He provides information while also evoking the emotions felt as a participant in the events. As the horses gather, we sense the tension of both riders and mounts. An interior scene also shows many objects and traditional activities. Betsy Lewin's small reed pen-and-watercolor vignettes add informational details and a leavening of humor. The front and back endpapers of sketches of the jockeys must come from her sketchbook, as they have immediacy with the liveliness of sharp observation. There are pages of additional factual information, a map, and a glossary with a pronunciation guide. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Children's Literature

From Caldecott honor artists Ted and Betsy Lewin comes this latest in a series of picture book travelogues (other titles include Gorilla Walk and Top to Bottom Down Under). This book is prefaced by an introduction to Mongolia, as well as to the Naadam festivals that bring nomadic people together to celebrate, feast, and engage in competitions of skill. It is the racing of half-wild horses by young riders that forms the focus of this informative, colorful book. The simple, direct text is illustrated in a range of styles, from impressionistic reed pen sketches with daubs of color to fully-developed watercolor spreads in which the muscles of horses ripple and the dust clouds seem to move in from the horizon. The collapsible round tent called the ger occupies a central place in this story. The Lewins are welcomed into one by the family of nine-year-old Tamir, the young rider whose feats we will follow. The milking of mares, the fixing of bridles, the decorative binding of the horses' tails, all take place around the gers, which are grouped together against the wide backdrop of the open steppes. In just one week, the wild horses are rounded up and readied for the race. Young Tamir and the other riders will ride their horses, at a walk, fourteen miles across the Gobi Desert to a race's starting line. Then, they will all race back to the point of origin. The details are fascinating, the scale of the challenge vast. The travelers documenting the process are themselves included in the narrative, a device that has the effect of bringing an unfamiliar place closer to the reader. (As when the Lewins write: "We follow along in our minivan.") Backmatter consists of "Ger Facts," "OtherMongolia Facts," a glossary and a pronunciation guide. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami

More Reviews (2) Fewer Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6- This colorful travelogue recounts the Lewins' trip to Mongolia to experience the annual summer celebration Naadam, in particular the horse-racing competition. It focuses on young Tamir as he prepares for and participates in the event. Information about Mongolian culture and the holiday's traditions are interspersed with an account of the competition. An introduction provides brief background, and unfamiliar terms are explained in context and in the glossary. Betsy Lewin's lively line-and-wash cartoon sketches and spot drawings are intermingled with Ted Lewin's sweeping watercolor paintings, which make effective use of light and rich color to portray both the intensity of the competition and the pageantry of the celebration. For the most part, the writing is tight and fast-paced, reflecting the event it describes. At other times, it becomes flowery and chatty. While perhaps not an essential purchase, the book provides a dynamic view of a culture rarely portrayed in children's books and an event that is sure to interest many young readers.-Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI

Kirkus Reviews

Visiting another exotic corner of the world, the well-traveled Lewins report on a stay in a camp of nomadic horse trainers, climaxed by a gloriously chaotic 14-mile children's horse race during the Naadam-a summer athletic festival that, after the Olympics, is the oldest in the world. Mongolia may be thinly populated (getting to the camp required a long plane flight, followed by "eight hundred bumpy, roadless miles in a minivan") but it is evidently not all that isolated. Some of the young riders in the bright, realistic illustrations are clad in traditional deels, others in jeans and T-shirts, while in one interior scene (of a dwelling properly called a "ger," not a yurt) a modern teakettle shines amid beautifully painted furniture and elaborately patterned fabrics. Closing with pages of additional facts and observations, this sojourn will not only take armchair travelers to the other side of the planet, it'll make them feel comfortable and welcome when they arrive. (glossary) (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781584302773
Publisher: Lee & Low Books, Inc.
Publication date: 3/30/2008
Pages: 56
Sales rank: 852,271
Age range: 6 - 10 Years
Lexile: 870L (what's this?)
Product dimensions: 9.64 (w) x 11.34 (h) x 0.45 (d)

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review

( 0 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble

Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia

Pick Up in Store

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature

Children's Literature

School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Related Subjects

Product Details

Customer Reviews

Rating Distribution

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!