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It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What
a great idea on iHeart Radio. Welcome

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to Maria's MutS and Stuff and with
me today. I'm very excited to speak

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with National Geographic Kids editor Christina sour
about can't get enough horse stuff. So,

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Christina, I'm so excited to talk
to you about this beautiful book.

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I am so excited to be here
yet. This is probably one of my

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favorite books that National Geographic Kids has
done for seven to ten year old all

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about one of their favorite subjects.
Yes, it's so funny. So I

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mean, and you've probably edited so
many different of Nazio Kids books. So

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what is it about horses just like
kids that makes you love them? Well,

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I will say I'm a little biased
because I was absolutely that horse girl

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as a kid. Huh. I
had horses growing up. I wanted to

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be a part of the Stattle Club
if you remember that. Sure, I

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just loved them, and I feel
like a lot of kids do. There's

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something about horses that just resonates and
connects us. And they aren't very intuitive

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creatures that we kind of feel like. Dog may be man's best friend,

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but I really think horses are everyone. I think so too, I think,

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and maybe also because it's funny you
say that because it's true, And

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maybe it's because it's easier for us
and for kids especially to have dogs,

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but not everybody can have a horse, right, it's true, And the

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fact that you can ride them and
take care of them, there's something this

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nurturing aspect that goes both ways.
Yeah, that's interesting. I never thought

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of it like that. Like sometimes
I tease my dog if somehow or other

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there's like a horse, like a
mounted police officer on a horse, because

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I live in the city and it's
like, hey, look, it's a

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big dog, even though they're not
like big dogs, right, but they

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are just as sweet. Sometimes you
can't kids, and I I don't mind

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going to muggled by a horse,
right, So how long did it take

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for you to, like, for
this whole book to get together? Which,

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by the way, I'm not done
with it yet because there are so

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many, so many interesting facts and
photos and I'm trying trying to absorb it

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all in even though I'm not between
seven and ten. But how long?

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So actually, it's also good for
adults who like horses like me. But

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how long did it take to put
the whole thing together and then to edit

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it and like to get to your
final product. Absolutely. So yeah,

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we like to say that we have
a specific age range for these books,

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but you're right, this is for
anyone and you can literally just open it

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up and learn something new on every
page. Yes, yes, So this

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book honestly takes about two years.
That's usually how long it takes to make

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a book. And we had a
great team involved. So there's always an

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editor who oversees all the different aspects, but we also have this phenomenal writer

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his name is Neil Kavanaugh. And
then we bring in an expert that's one

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of the hallmarks from that Quo Kids
books. We always have somebody who's really

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specialized in the field, and we
had Carrie Turner from the University of Georgia

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who oversaw and gave us some feedback. I'm making sure everything was accurate.

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We have a photo team that pulls
together all of these amazing photos. And

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when I say amazing photos, this
book is just peppered with every kind of

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expression type of course, just really
interactive photography that makes this fun so much

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fun, uh huh. And then
we have and then we take it and

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we bring it to our copy editors, making sure all the grammars right,

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and then we're sending off and haven't
actually made into a physical book and sell

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at your local bookstores, right right. I means it takes you know,

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it's like that whole thing. It
takes a village, but it does.

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It takes a lot of people to
put together this book. And I mean,

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and it's so I like the fact
that it's glossy and it's colorful,

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and with all the different color like
fonts and print, you know, I

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mean, I can definitely see how
it appeals to kids, but it really

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does appeal to adults too, right. I'm sure you enjoyed going through it

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the first time, you know,
as soon as it was done right,

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Honestly, even just the first page, I was already blown away because I

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don't know about you, but I
always thought that horses and ponies were different

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creatures. They aren't at all.
We immediately debunked that, and we say,

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actually, a horse is a pony
there. It's just horses are over

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fifty eight inches and ponies are under
or as fifty eight inches. They both

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come from the same species, which
is heckless calabus. So we teach kids

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right off the front exactly. That's
what you're about to learn so much.

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That's true, It's true. I
mean I, like I said, I

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didn't finish it, but I had
no idea that the way horses eyes are

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on the sides of their heads.
And I found this to me is fascinating

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that they, unlike us, they
can see two different images. Like if

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one eye is looking at you approaching
on the right, and say another horse

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is approaching on the left, they
can see that in their brains two images,

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right, is that? I mean, that's what I got out of

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it, which is incredible, Like
wow, how does that? How did

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that happen? Right? Well?
And it's so funny because you start to

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learn, especially in this book,
and we never spell it out exactly.

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And I think that's the really fun
part is we just scratch the surface here

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and really provote gets to go and
learn more. Lots of games and it's

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all experiential learning. But in that
case, it's like wait why and you

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start to learn Wait a minute,
that's the difference sometimes between prey and predators,

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Like yeah, as humans, we
have our eyes in front, we

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only need to see one image because
we're not scared about anyone attacking us from

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the back, right, as many
predators aren't. But the prey they always

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have to be aware or see the
horse's ears. They can go all the

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way around and listen behind them,
in front of them, and independently too.

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Yeah, and who knew that,
I mean other than you kind of

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not thought that. But if you
see a horse moving its ears different and

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you're like, oh, look at
that. But to actually like see it

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and read about it and know like
that's a fact, it's true, it's

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fascinating. I mean, I think, and I guess I can't wait to

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finish reading it. And I'm sure
my listeners for their kids or even for

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themselves who like horses, which is
probably everybody. I don't think I know

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anyone who dislikes a horse, right, it's just so perfect. So of

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all the different I guess, and
I want to say chapters, but it's

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not more of sections. Do you
have a favorite section of the book?

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You know, I am handling my
inner child here, But I love our

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personality quizzes personally. Okay, we
have two of them, and what we

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did was purposely made them very aspirational. So one of them on you know,

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seven ten year old are famous per
saying, oh, what do I

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want to be when I grow up? And they're trying to come up with

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all of these like flower and be
a farmer or a firefighter or a doctor.

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And in this one, this is
for that kid who's like, I

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love horses, but I don't know
what I can do with a horse unless

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I'm a veterinarian. And here we
go, Okay, take a personality quiz

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and see what you are. And
for me, I ended up being a

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horse trainer if I wanted to be
based on my personality. So it teaches

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kids a little bit about themselves.
Sure also tells them, hey, there's

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these other jobs. And then we
even I mean go so far as to

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introduce them to experts in the horse
field, right, such as one who's

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putting cave arts to find out one
is a history of horses, or a

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woman who takes many horses to hospitals
to help dough therapy. It's incredible,

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it is, It really is,
and it's so funny because I can hear

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the excitement about it in your voice
and it's so sincere. So I know

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that you really loved putting this together. I could tell you. I'm so

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ready for it to be. I
can't wait to see a child have it

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in their hands because now that it's
finally out, I'm like, now you

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can read about it and get excited
too. Sure. I had the pleasure

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of helping my mom with a little
girl during the pandemic and helping raise her

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and her horses, her thing.
We just played and learned about horses the

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whole time. And let me tell
you, I cannot wait to give her

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this book because I'm like, just
you wait, there's even more facts that

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we didn't even know and discovered follows. Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness.

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She's gonna be so excited to see
this book. That's awesome. I

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know it's awesome. And you know, you know, because kids, to

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me are just pure honesty. So
you know you're going to see the full

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reaction for real, and you know
it's gonna be amazing because she's gonna love

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it. Oh yeah. And then
she's gonna want to play horses. Why

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not? Oh yeah, that's true. And then you can you can actually

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as an adult, play horses because
you're playing with a child, right,

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It's too funny. So well,
I do. I'm so excited to talk

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to you about this book, And
like I said, for my listeners to

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pick it up, they can get
it in any bookstore or at the National

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Geographic website. Is that a place
as well? Absolutely? We also have

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Shop Disney or anywhere where you buy
your books online. Okay. And for

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you, what and I know what
is because I know you love doing horses.

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What's your next project as an editor? There? Oh? You know,

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I am all about historical projects.
So I am right now looking for

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the next big history's topic, whether
it's ancient Egypt or the Titanic or the

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Holocaust. I really want to tell
a story of from survivors, right.

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Oh yeah, that would be a
good one. Okay, Well, good

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luck with that. But thank you
so much for all you did with this

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because it's just I love it.
Giddy up, let's go. Can't get

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enough horse stuff. It's so perfect. So Christina Saur, thank you for

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your time and for all of your
effort and energy. And I know that

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you loved putting it together. And
I know anyone who picks this book up,

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whether they're between seven and ten or
they're ninety five years old, they're

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going to be fascinated with it.
And honest sleep I didn't want to take

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that personality quiz because I saw it, but I didn't take it, so

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now I'm intrigued. So thank you
so very much for your time. Thank

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you, and make sure you tell
me what you end up being. Of

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course I will Operator Operator