The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr

Every so often, I read a novel set during WWII that teaches me something completely new that I didn't know before. Such is the case with The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr, which was published in 2014. 

Kerr's story is based on truth, legend, fiction, and just a bit of magic. 

The story is set in the very real nature preserve at Askaniya-Nova in Ukraine, which during WWII was part of Russia. The horses are Przewalski's - pronounced shuh-vahl-skeez primitive wild horses that have never been domesticated. 

During the German invasion of the nature preserve, most of the horses were killed by the Germans, causing this endangered species to nearly become extinct. This is the story of how Kalinka, a Jewish refugee, and Max, the caretaker of the preserve, work to save two of the horses that survived the massacre. 

This story shows how the actions of the Germans during WWII hurt more then human life. They felt the horses were inferior to German horses and should be extinct. They thought them too cunning and clever, and not as beautiful as domesticated horses. Przewakski's horses are much smaller than other horses, and no one has ever been able to tame them. 

All of the current 2,000 Przewalski's horses are descended from just nine of the 31 horses that survived WWII. Most of these 31 horses were located on in other countries in zoos that had purchased them from the preserve before the WWII. 

I listened to the audio version and it was beautifully narrated. 

 Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.