The Free Herd
2 Standalone Volumes (TR + EN)
216×216 mm · Archival Print
The Free Herd
“I ran not to tame them, but to feel their wind against my chest.”
Nine-year-old İlker yearns to capture and tame a wild young foal from the 400-strong free herd roaming the wetlands beneath Mount Erciyes. But when the rough halter rope burns his hand and falls into the wetland mud, he confronts the truth of custody versus possession. As the wild herd surges past, he steps aside and hangs the halter back on its wooden peg: nature is not property, but sacred trust.
“A lyrical steppe meditation on wild horses beneath Mount Erciyes, teaching children that to truly love nature is to release rather than possess.”
Read-Aloud Cadence & Literary Architecture
Character First
Eight-year-old diaspora child Elif, a mother bridging city and village, and a grandmother weaving for fifty years. Breathing characters before plot mechanics.
Then Trouble (Stakes)
An unfinished kilim, scarce buckthorn dye, and a mispulled thread. No lecturing moralism; a flaw is embraced as a protective knot, unravelled with patience.
Cadence & Quiet Authority
Yunus Emre’s sehl-i mümteni clarity: maximum emotional depth in the plainest words. A shared read-aloud breath uniting parent and child at bedtime.
“Over. Under. Pull. The weaver’s comb struck: thud, thud, thud. ‘Slowly,’ said Mum. Nan didn’t say slowly.”
Short clauses, natural breathing intervals, and the rhythmic beat of the wooden comb holding young listeners in quiet awe.
Mount Erciyes Slopes & Hürmetçi Wetlands Basin
Mount Erciyes Slopes & Hürmetçi Wetlands
“The Free Herd & The Halter”
Horsehair & Reed Beds
Post-Reading 3 Cognitive Inquiry Layers
Sensory & Auditory Nature
The snowy silhouette of Mount Erciyes, four hundred horses thundering across the marsh, morning mist, and the foal’s warm breath.
Character Want & Limits of Ownership
İlker’s struggle to possess what he loves, the harsh bite of the rope slipping through his fingers, and learning when not to pull.
P4C Philosophical Inquiry & Trust
Sacred Trust: Is letting go the same as losing? Can you truly love a living creature without needing to own it?
Other Volumes in the Series
Sponsor bilingual sets for classrooms with an engraved family bookplate.
Selim Sülek: literary journey from Sydney to the Anatolian steppe.
Share story motifs, feedback, and classroom requests for future volumes.