#BiteSizeSaturday goes non-fiction with Amber Books! #TheWild #Horses #nonfiction #NetGalley

Hi and welcome to #BiteSizeSaturday! 

Today, I’d love to tell you all about two non-fiction books from my favourite non-fiction publisher, Amber Books, who already taught me everything I needed to know about cats, dogs, Norway, Japan and various hidden places around the globe.

Ever since I moved house and came to live next door to a couple of horses, I’ve been on the look-out for a book about my new friends. I finally found what I was looking for in Horses by Paula Hammond.
Did you know that Shetland ponies were used in coal mines during the Industrial Revolution and many spent their entire lives underground? Or that there are more horses in Mongolia than people? Or that horses arrived in Australia with the British fleet in the 18th century?
Did you know that horses need over a hundred muscles to keep their long necks upright, or that they can see almost 350 degrees in any direction, or that they are born with hooves covered with some sort of capsule to protect the mother, which wears off when the foal starts walking?
Horses is chockfull of fun little facts like those, as well as gorgeous photos to illustrate the different breeds, functions and anatomy. I particularly enjoyed the photos of the young horses and the wild horses, some really stunning pics there. I did miss a bit more information about equine behaviour, if that had been more present, this would have been the perfect book. As it is, Horses is still a fantastic book that I would happily recommend to any and all horse lovers who want to learn more about these magnificent animals, or just look at some beautiful photos.

Having loved the previous geographical coffee table books by Claudia Martin, I couldn’t possibly walk away from The Wild.
The Wild promises to take you to the world’s most spectacular untamed places, and it really makes true on its promise. Did you know there’s a volcano in Indonesia that is known for its “blue fire”, which is caused by combusting sulphur, which surges through the cracks, reaching temperatures of 600°C (1,112 °F)? Connecting with the air outside, the sulphur ignites, creating flames up to 5 m (16ft) tall!
The Northern lights in Norway, wild flamingo at sunset in France, a magnificent frozen lake in Russia, the Lut Desert and its prickly flora in Iran, a seven-tiered waterfall in Malaysia, hypersaline ponds and hot springs in Ethiopia, gorgeous lilac-breasted rollers and hippos in Tanzania, a bird sanctuary in Senegal, snowfall on Saharan dunes in Algeria, a mud pool in New Zealand, Adelaide Island in Antarctica and Jellyfish Lake in Palau, arctic poppies (yellow poppies, who knew?!) in Canada and longspur lupine in Nevada, USA, these are but a few of the stunning photos.
These are all places I will most likely never get to see in real life but with its gorgeous photos and interesting facts, The Wild did take me all over the world in spirit. I would highly recommend The Wild to any and all (armchair) travellers.

Thanks for joining me today! The Wild and Horses are out on 14 April in hardcover.

Massive thanks to Amber Books and NetGalley for the eARCs. All opinions are my own.