Book reviews: THE HORSE BOY and HORSE: A PORTRAIT

I have two book recommendations for this issue of Chicago 4 Community on horses, special needs and therapy!

One of them is THE HORSE BOY, an extremely touching memoir by Rupert Isaacson on how a desperate and resourceful father tries to establish a connection with his 4-year-old autistic son through horseback riding and a shared passion for horses. Though the father’s expectations of healing his son completely turn out unreasonable and impossible, their journey in Mongolia on the back of horses have a strong impact on the child’s perception of the world, and a big transformation is on the way… Extremely inspiring about the therapeutic effects of the human-equine relationship!

The second book I highly recommend is HORSE: A PORTRAIT, a stunning collection of photos on horses from around the world with award-winning photographer Christiane Slawik. If the photos are superb, Slawik’s writing is not less fascinating: she tells her readers all the stories behind the pictures and the horses portayed in them, drawing us into her magic world of passion for horses.

(Clara Tomaz)