Leonardo’s Horse by Jean Fritz and Hudson Talbott (2001) is a masterpiece. Young readers will appreciate the reading level at grades 1 – 4. Middle and high schoolers can research the many references to Leonardo de Vinci, his endeavors, his contemporaries, and the setting in which he lived. This book condenses a huge amount of information into a cohesive, easily readable story. The gifted and talented child struggling in a one-size-fits-all educational system may identify with Leonardo.
We meet Leonardo as a teenager, a child who is remarkably different from his peers. Lucky for him, his parents appreciate his talent. They send him to Florence, Italy, to study art. “He could never be just one thing. He was an engineer, an architect, a musician, a philosopher, an astronomer.” Multiple interests and responsibilities combined with the limitations of his moment in history make it difficult to manifest all his dreams. His lifelong aspiration to cast a 24-foot horse never materializes. But Leonardo’s passing in 1519 is not the end of the story.
More about this book is on my Wordpress blog.
