If I was a horse

Title:

If I was a horse

Author:

Summary:

If you were a horse, what would you do? Could you fit in your clothes? Would you give your little sister a ride? Would your brother even notice? Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. -- Amazon.

Audience:

Ages 4-8. Little, Brown and Company.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 27 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Imagination -- Juvenile fiction.

Horses -- Juvenile fiction.

Added Corporate Author:

Little, Brown, and Company.

Publisher:

Little, Brown and Company,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9780316510981

Publication Information:

New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2023

Call Number:

P BLACKALL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003687962	New Picture Books	BLACKALL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable
33607003700765	New Picture Books	BLACKALL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER!

A gift for any child with an unbridled imagination, this bestseller from award-winning creator Sophie Blackall captures the astonishing spectacle of life as a horse. And with a cover adorned with glitter, this romp really sparkles!

If you were a horse, what would you do? Could you fit in your clothes? Would you give your little sister a ride? Would your brother even notice?

Gallop along with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall through this riotous day in the life of a child who imagines their life as a horse. What ensues are uproarious, resonant episodes that feature a giant horse in familiar settings offering both a visual feast, a grand dose of joy, and a celebration of the real power of imagination to help us navigate the world.

Author Notes

Sophie Blackall was born in 1970 and grew up in Australia. She received a Bachelor of Design in Sydney in 1992 with honors. She spent the following few years painting robotic characters for theme parks, providing the hands for a DIY television show, and writing a household hints column. She also had many exhibitions of paintings in galleries in Sydney and Melbourne.

She moved to New York City in 2000. Her editorial illustrations have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Architectural Digest, Town and Country, Vogue, and Gourmet. She has illustrated over thirty books for children including Ruby's Wish, Meet Wild Boars, Pecan Pie Baby, Big Red Lollipop, and the Ivy and Bean series. She won the 2016 Randolph Caldecott Medal for the Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear and the 2019 Randolph Caldecott Medal for Hello Lighthouse. Her first book for adults was entitled Missed Connections: Love, Lost and Found.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2--A whimsical picture book that embarks on a journey of imagination. The story follows a child's imaginative transformation into a horse, where they envision all the possibilities being a horse would bring. The lyrical text is deceptively simple. While it seems to just be about being a horse, the story really opens the readers' minds to all the wonders of their imagination. Blackall's expressive art is the real star of the book. The mixed-media illustrations infuse the text with a sense of play and wonder. VERDICT A wonderful reminder of the power of imagination and a launching point for story hour discussions.--V. Lynn Christiansen

Publisher's Weekly Review

In an amusing meditation on self-determination, a young narrator imagines being free of the rules of childhood and family life--by dint of becoming a horse. Caldecott Medalist Blackall begins, "If I was a horse, I would gallop all day.// I could go anywhere I want,// and I'd come home when I was hungry." One accompanying spread shows a bay horse with a spray of white spots across its back entering a kitchen and grazing on a sandwich. A younger sibling giggles; an older sibling, absorbed in a book, notices nothing. The speaker describes giving their sister a ride to school (halting just shy of the entrance to munch flowers); swimming, goggle-clad, in a race ("Everyone/ would want me on their team"); and looking skeptically at a caregiver proffering both a bath and garments ("If I was a horse, I wouldn't wear clothes"). After bedtime, the real voice behind the words is revealed. Throughout this cozy view of longed-for freedoms in childhood, Blackall's signature-style illustrations summon giggles about the comic ill-suitedness of horses to the human-scale world. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4--8. Agent: Nancy Gallt, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Oct.)