(2) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Minter. William "Doc" Key was a self-taught veterinarian who was born into slavery and became a free man after the Civil War. With Doc's gentle, noncoercive training, his colt, Jim, learned to read, spell, write, and do sums, and thus became the star of Doc's traveling shows. Bowman's narration is steady and natural. Minter's woodcut-style illustrations are enticing and warm. Bib.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(2) K-3 Bill "Doc" Key, born a slave, later became a veterinarian. Apparently, Doc taught his astonishingly intelligent horse, Jim Key, the alphabet, numbers, even colors. In her concluding note, McCully is suitably skeptical; but whatever truths lie behind this engaging tale, it's a fine portrait of accomplishment. In McCully's signature watercolors, the pre-industrial setting and its rural inhabitants are realized at their bucolic best. Bib.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010