This slim early reader touches on a subject near to most kids' hearts. Endearing full-color photographs dominate most pages, while simple, declarative sentences covering basic information appear in large font, following repetitive patterns and aligning closely to photo content. A vocabulary tree highlights major terms, and a one-page summary of the nine types of ponies covered concludes the text. Very young readers will enjoy the pictures while absorbing basic facts, and emerging readers should be able to decode most pages on their own. The book touches lightly on some curriculum connections, such as habitats and food, making this a good selection for classroom and school libraries as well as public library collections. This is sure to be popular with animal lovers, and the photos should be especially effective in attracting audiences.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2016 Booklist

Glossy pages of sharp, bright animal photos will capture the attention of children learning to read. The very brief texts geared to pre-readers hold the slightest amount of information, but the emphasis is on animal action and the pictures invite budding wildlife watchers to take a closer look. Each book includes a "vocabulary tree" to introduce new words and an appended activity. [Review covers the following National Geographic Readers titles: Dive, Dolphin!, Peek, Otter!, and Trot, Pony!.] (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.