HORSE SONG

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)