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Free as the Wind: Saving the Horses of Sable Island
Children can make a difference.
The horses of Sable Island-they are a romantic and enduring symbol of the will to survive in an unforgiving environment. Hundreds of these wild horses live on the windy beaches and dunes of this remote island known as the graveyard of the Atlantic off the shores of Nova Scotia.
Free as the Wind is Jamie Bastedo's re-creation of one of the most fascinating episodes in the history of these wild creatures: the moment in the early 1960s when it was decided the horses would be removed from the island and auctioned off, many of them slaughtered for dog food. School children across the country wrote Canada's then Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, pleading with him to restore the horses to the island, to save them from certain death. This fictional account of that pivotal moment in Canada's history follows young Lucas Beauregard, son of the retiring superintendent of Sable Island, as he befriends and then plots to save Gem, one of the horses of Sable Island.
The horses of Sable Island are a national treasure, not only because their history dates back as early as the settlement of Canada, but also because their continued survival showed the world that children can make a difference.
Susan Tooke's sparkling paintings capture the spare but magnificent terrain of Sable Island in a way that will captivate readers of all ages.
The horses of Sable Island-they are a romantic and enduring symbol of the will to survive in an unforgiving environment. Hundreds of these wild horses live on the windy beaches and dunes of this remote island known as the graveyard of the Atlantic off the shores of Nova Scotia.
Free as the Wind is Jamie Bastedo's re-creation of one of the most fascinating episodes in the history of these wild creatures: the moment in the early 1960s when it was decided the horses would be removed from the island and auctioned off, many of them slaughtered for dog food. School children across the country wrote Canada's then Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, pleading with him to restore the horses to the island, to save them from certain death. This fictional account of that pivotal moment in Canada's history follows young Lucas Beauregard, son of the retiring superintendent of Sable Island, as he befriends and then plots to save Gem, one of the horses of Sable Island.
The horses of Sable Island are a national treasure, not only because their history dates back as early as the settlement of Canada, but also because their continued survival showed the world that children can make a difference.
Susan Tooke's sparkling paintings capture the spare but magnificent terrain of Sable Island in a way that will captivate readers of all ages.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 20, 2007
About the author
Jamie Bastedo
16 books7 followersAs a professional ecologist, outdoor educator, nature tour guide, radio broadcaster, video script writer, actor and children’s entertainer, Jamie Bastedo has been involved in many projects that bridge the realms of science, art and culture. His ability to weave these realms together in creative, street-friendly formats was recognized recently when he received the national Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion (one of only five given each year) and the Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medal.
As for Jamie's knowledge of bears, he has published numerous popular articles, book chapters and one major novel about bears and has first-hand experience working with bear biologists in various arctic habitats. The inspiration for this project arose while doing research and creative writing for a Canadian Museum of Nature exhibit on Arctic climate change aimed at adolescent and teenage audiences.
As for Jamie's knowledge of bears, he has published numerous popular articles, book chapters and one major novel about bears and has first-hand experience working with bear biologists in various arctic habitats. The inspiration for this project arose while doing research and creative writing for a Canadian Museum of Nature exhibit on Arctic climate change aimed at adolescent and teenage audiences.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 19, 2020
Free as the Wind is author Jamie Bastedo's fictional account of when in the 1960s, a strong letter writing campaign by Canadian school children did indeed manage to convince the Progressive Conservative federal government of John Diefenbaker (the then Canadian Prime Minister) to save and protect the wild horses of Nova Scotia's Sable Island (which were unfortunately and disgustingly slated to be be rounded up en masse and then killed off for dog food and glue).
Now main character and narrator of Free as the Wind, young Lucas Beauregard, he lives with his family on Sable Island, and when he learns from his father that the horses (many of which Lucas considers almost like personal friends) are not going to simply be rounded up and sold/adopted, but that they are in fact ALL slated to be killed, to be exterminated, he decides to write to the Prime Minister of Canada in protest (and yes, Lucas' school mates, teachers, even the school janitor also write their own letters of protest, with the result that Lucas soon receives a personal response from John Diefenbaker, promising that the Sable Island horses will remain free and protected on Sable Island).
I was really looking forward to reading Free as the Wind, and while I have indeed enjoyed, I sadly and frustratingly also do find the narrative flow of Jamie Bastedo's presented text extremely choppy and jumpy, often moving from one episode to another in such a haphazard manner that relevant details appear to be missing, information that the reader must then try to fill in himself/herself. For there indeed does seem to be a distracting oscillation between thoughts and events, and while Jamie Bastedo's first person narrative does make Lucas' voice shine brightly and realistically, the jumpiness of the text also makes the reading experience at times rather if not quite disjointed. And truth be told, I actually had to read Free as the Wind twice before realising that the narrative actually does not seem to follow a straight line, and that scenarios which happened months apart often appear side by side with scenarios where the time line is more recent.
Yes, I do appreciate how Lucas' emotional state is clearly and realistically shown throughout Free as the Wind and that as a whole, in general, Free as the Wind was and indeed remains a much rewarding reading experience for me, but he choppiness of Jamie Bastedo's narrative and especially that it tends to bounce from place to place rather randomly, not only tends to be distracting, it actually also seems to make Lucas himself appear a bit inconsistent as a narrator and thus not always entirely believable (although his love for the horses of Sable Island constantly does sparkle through, even when the printed words are at their most random and annoyingly unorganised).
And with regard to the accompanying artwork, I indeed do simply adore Susan Tooke's brilliantly bold illustrations, and really, they do totally make this book, they make Free as the Wind and as such, they give strength and poignancy to the narrative, to the author's text, to his words (expanding them, and also, and perhaps most importantly, filling in details which the distracting choppiness of the narrative sometimes misses). Capturing the spirit of the wild horses, the wildness of Sable Island, Tooke's illustrations with equal clarity and descriptiveness also display human emotions and human life in 1960s Canada, or more to the point, of the Maritimes, to be a bit more specific (and truly, without Susan Tooke's glorious accompanying pictures, Free as the Wind would most definitely have been but a two star read for me, but the illustrations, Susan Tooke's colourful and descriptive pictorial representations move the rating up to a well-deserved and merited three stars, as they truly bring Jamie Bastedo's at times frustrating and annoying printed words to life, and especially, particularly smoothing over instances of narrative flow, inconsistency and temporal integrity problems).
And finally, the historical notes on the inside of the back and front book covers of Free as the Wind are certainly greatly and personally appreciated, although a bit of a supplemental bibliography would definitely have been an added bonus and increased the teaching and learning value of the information presented (especially since the wild horses of Sable Island and the fact that they were nearly destined to be rounded up and callously slaughtered en masse in the 1960s are not really all that well known outside of Canada). Also, the white font of the supplemental information on a light blue background really does make the script a bit hard to read (or at least, it made and continues to make the script a bit hard to read for me, for my eyes). And yes, I do also have to wonder why the background information is not presented as a separate page or two right at the end of the narrative, right at the end of Free as the Wind (as having it located on the inside of the back and front book covers for one kind of separates the historical background from the text proper and for two, with library books, supplemental historic notes etc. that are located on the book covers or on the dust jackets, they are often obscured by library policies and protocols of securing dust jackets with tape).
Recommended for young horse enthusiasts and history buffs, Free as the Wind also demonstrates with a tangible example, that children are empowered, that they can "do" and that their ideas are important and can make a difference (and this fact is thankfully also not belaboured by Jamie Bastedo, as the letter writing campaign is thankfully understated, unheroic, but it more than gets the job done, as the wild horses are indeed saved). An engaging and important little story, my personal issues with narrative flow and distracting time lines notwithstanding!
Now main character and narrator of Free as the Wind, young Lucas Beauregard, he lives with his family on Sable Island, and when he learns from his father that the horses (many of which Lucas considers almost like personal friends) are not going to simply be rounded up and sold/adopted, but that they are in fact ALL slated to be killed, to be exterminated, he decides to write to the Prime Minister of Canada in protest (and yes, Lucas' school mates, teachers, even the school janitor also write their own letters of protest, with the result that Lucas soon receives a personal response from John Diefenbaker, promising that the Sable Island horses will remain free and protected on Sable Island).
I was really looking forward to reading Free as the Wind, and while I have indeed enjoyed, I sadly and frustratingly also do find the narrative flow of Jamie Bastedo's presented text extremely choppy and jumpy, often moving from one episode to another in such a haphazard manner that relevant details appear to be missing, information that the reader must then try to fill in himself/herself. For there indeed does seem to be a distracting oscillation between thoughts and events, and while Jamie Bastedo's first person narrative does make Lucas' voice shine brightly and realistically, the jumpiness of the text also makes the reading experience at times rather if not quite disjointed. And truth be told, I actually had to read Free as the Wind twice before realising that the narrative actually does not seem to follow a straight line, and that scenarios which happened months apart often appear side by side with scenarios where the time line is more recent.
Yes, I do appreciate how Lucas' emotional state is clearly and realistically shown throughout Free as the Wind and that as a whole, in general, Free as the Wind was and indeed remains a much rewarding reading experience for me, but he choppiness of Jamie Bastedo's narrative and especially that it tends to bounce from place to place rather randomly, not only tends to be distracting, it actually also seems to make Lucas himself appear a bit inconsistent as a narrator and thus not always entirely believable (although his love for the horses of Sable Island constantly does sparkle through, even when the printed words are at their most random and annoyingly unorganised).
And with regard to the accompanying artwork, I indeed do simply adore Susan Tooke's brilliantly bold illustrations, and really, they do totally make this book, they make Free as the Wind and as such, they give strength and poignancy to the narrative, to the author's text, to his words (expanding them, and also, and perhaps most importantly, filling in details which the distracting choppiness of the narrative sometimes misses). Capturing the spirit of the wild horses, the wildness of Sable Island, Tooke's illustrations with equal clarity and descriptiveness also display human emotions and human life in 1960s Canada, or more to the point, of the Maritimes, to be a bit more specific (and truly, without Susan Tooke's glorious accompanying pictures, Free as the Wind would most definitely have been but a two star read for me, but the illustrations, Susan Tooke's colourful and descriptive pictorial representations move the rating up to a well-deserved and merited three stars, as they truly bring Jamie Bastedo's at times frustrating and annoying printed words to life, and especially, particularly smoothing over instances of narrative flow, inconsistency and temporal integrity problems).
And finally, the historical notes on the inside of the back and front book covers of Free as the Wind are certainly greatly and personally appreciated, although a bit of a supplemental bibliography would definitely have been an added bonus and increased the teaching and learning value of the information presented (especially since the wild horses of Sable Island and the fact that they were nearly destined to be rounded up and callously slaughtered en masse in the 1960s are not really all that well known outside of Canada). Also, the white font of the supplemental information on a light blue background really does make the script a bit hard to read (or at least, it made and continues to make the script a bit hard to read for me, for my eyes). And yes, I do also have to wonder why the background information is not presented as a separate page or two right at the end of the narrative, right at the end of Free as the Wind (as having it located on the inside of the back and front book covers for one kind of separates the historical background from the text proper and for two, with library books, supplemental historic notes etc. that are located on the book covers or on the dust jackets, they are often obscured by library policies and protocols of securing dust jackets with tape).
Recommended for young horse enthusiasts and history buffs, Free as the Wind also demonstrates with a tangible example, that children are empowered, that they can "do" and that their ideas are important and can make a difference (and this fact is thankfully also not belaboured by Jamie Bastedo, as the letter writing campaign is thankfully understated, unheroic, but it more than gets the job done, as the wild horses are indeed saved). An engaging and important little story, my personal issues with narrative flow and distracting time lines notwithstanding!
January 16, 2018
This is an emotional read, so make sure you read it through before you read it to your class. A historical fiction story, this, like the summary says, shows how "children can make a difference". On the surface it appears like it is a book about horses, and it is, but it is so much more. It is about heart, problem-solving, engaging a community, writing to change an opinion/decision, and never giving up.
November 1, 2020
This is a story written about a historical event in Canada in the 1960's. The wild horses of Sable Island were being taken off the island that is located off the coast of Nova Scotia. Many were to be destroyed - until children across Canada wrote to Prime Minister Diefenbaker to save the wild horses. He listened, and today the wild horses of Sable Island remain there free as the wind. Amazing illustrations.
December 3, 2012
A great fictionalized account of how the wild horses of Sable Island were saved by children writing letters to the Prime Minister of Canada.
July 5, 2015
Awesome tail (!) and illustrations!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews