Books like Cowpuppy — picked by fans

As a neuroscientist and horse trainer, my twin lifelong passions are horses and brains. I’ve learned along the way that most people are fascinated by both topics when rendered in plain language, regardless of whether they’ve ever touched a horse or inspected a brain. I worked on horses and brains separately for most of my life. But combining these two passions changed everything, allowing me to apply neuroscience to form a deep insight of the animal I’ve always loved most. I also enjoy translating equine life to those outside it, so everyone can get a stronger understanding of the minds, bodies, and hearts of these magnificent prey animals.

As a neuroscientist and horse trainer, my twin lifelong passions are horses and brains. I’ve learned along the way that most people are fascinated by both topics when rendered in plain language, regardless of whether they’ve ever touched a horse or inspected a brain. I worked on horses and brains separately for most of my life. But combining these two passions changed everything, allowing me to apply neuroscience to form a deep insight of the animal I’ve always loved most. I also enjoy translating equine life to those outside it, so everyone can get a stronger understanding of the minds, bodies, and hearts of these magnificent prey animals.

As a neuroscientist and horse trainer, my twin lifelong passions are horses and brains. I’ve learned along the way that most people are fascinated by both topics when rendered in plain language, regardless of whether they’ve ever touched a horse or inspected a brain. I worked on horses and brains separately for most of my life. But combining these two passions changed everything, allowing me to apply neuroscience to form a deep insight of the animal I’ve always loved most. I also enjoy translating equine life to those outside it, so everyone can get a stronger understanding of the minds, bodies, and hearts of these magnificent prey animals.

As a neuroscientist and horse trainer, my twin lifelong passions are horses and brains. I’ve learned along the way that most people are fascinated by both topics when rendered in plain language, regardless of whether they’ve ever touched a horse or inspected a brain. I worked on horses and brains separately for most of my life. But combining these two passions changed everything, allowing me to apply neuroscience to form a deep insight of the animal I’ve always loved most. I also enjoy translating equine life to those outside it, so everyone can get a stronger understanding of the minds, bodies, and hearts of these magnificent prey animals.

I have been a writer for thirty years and a horse lover my entire life. When I decided to write There Must Be Horses, I set out to learn about natural horsemanship and the way horses and people relate to each other. Of course, I then needed to try out all those exciting ideas myself so I bought myself a horse to help with my research. That was my excuse anyway – in truth I was finally fulfilling my childhood dream of a pony of my own. I still have that horse and would never part with him. He’s an important part of our family. 

Although I’m a cat lover, I’ve spent my career studying the evolution of lizards. As my career progressed, it never occurred to me to investigate cats. They’re too hard to study (ever tried following one?), plus, I thought there was no interesting cat research being done. Then I learned I was completely wrong—cat scientists are conducting great work using cutting-edge techniques. So I decided to teach a freshman class on the science of cats, hoping to lure in cat-loving students and then teach them how scientists study nature, using cats as the vehicle. The class was a success, but something unexpected happened: I became hooked on cat science myself!

I’m a scholar of environmental history with a focus on human-animal relationships. I’ve also studied the histories of slavery and the African Diaspora, and in my book I’ve fused approaches from these two fields to look at how human-animal relations and networks shaped the expansion of slavery and slave trading from West Africa to the Caribbean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. My scholarship is also an outgrowth of my teaching, and I regularly teach American environmental and cultural history at California State University, Northridge. I finished my PhD in history at Rutgers University, and my research has recently been funded by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.

I have loved all things magical my entire life. I grew up leaving out food for the fairies and searching for gnomes in the woods, so it only follows that when I learned to read, I gravitated toward stories of fantasy and myth. I often felt that the worlds I read about matched my personality more accurately than the real world, and I longed to be one of the magically gifted heroines I encountered. I’m excited to share some of my very favorites with you, and hope they bring you as much joy as they did me!

I’ve been in love with animals my whole life. I loved them so much in fact, that I wished to become one, whether it was a sea otter, wild horse, or a dolphin. Today, I’m fortunate enough to not only write about animals, but I also advocate for their protection as an ambassador for Wild Tomorrow and Defenders of Wildlife. As co-founder of the Children’s Book Creators for Conservation, I help other children’s book writers and illustrators connect with conservation stories in the field. I hope you’re as inspired by these books as I am!

I have been fascinated by “nature” since childhood, growing up on an island south of Iceland and spending summers on a farm. As a teenager, I would explore my island in the company of friends, often with a binocular and a camera at hand. There was much to explore: a towering volcano above the local community, ancient lava flows, stormy seas – and an amazing variety of seabirds. I witnessed an island being born nearby during a stunning volcanic eruption. My life and career have been heavily informed by this experience, as an anthropologist and a writer I have always somehow engaged with connections between people and their environments.