Welcome to another edition of Perfect Picture Book Friday!
I am totally in love with the book I’m sharing today, and I can’t wait to show it to you! I know you’re going to love it, too!
If you know me at all, you know I love horses. I have, quite literally, since the day I was born. I think it is entirely possible that I am part horse, or that maybe I was a horse in a previous incarnation. I spent the better part of my childhood pretending to be a horse, trotting and cantering around, jumping “fences”, and nickering at family members. I also pretended my bicycle was a horse, and I’d ride it along the dirt road near our house and talk to it and pat it like it had firm muscles, a beautiful shiny coat, and could actually hear me. 😊
So of course the moment I saw this book I knew it was meant for me 😊
Title: If I Was A Horse
Written & Illustrated By: Sophie Blackall
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, October 3, 2023, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 4-8 (but really, how can anyone not love this book? 😊)
Themes/Topics: imagination, gentle rebellion against restrictions
text and illustration copyright Sophie Blackall 2023, Little Brown
Opening:
“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.”
Brief Synopsis: A child imagines what life would be like as a horse, with all the freedoms that entails.
text and illustration copyright Sophie Blackall 2023, Little Brown
Links To Resources: Sophie Blackall talks about writing the book (short video); draw and decorate your own horse! What would you do if you were a horse? Would you like to try being something else? What? Let your imagination run!
text and illustration copyright Sophie Blackall 2023, Little Brown
Why I Like This Book: First, can we just admire and delight in the sparkly cover? Such fun! How can you not love a horse in a sparkly tutu? How can you not open the cover to see what comes next? Childhood is full of rules, and school, and adults telling you what to do, and this story, simply told in very few words, is about freedom. Because when you’re a child with a vivid imagination, you can be anything. Sophie Blackall says that this book is “for anyone who, even for a minute, has wanted to be something else.” And haven’t we all! Her illustrations, in ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil mixed with wallpaper, fabrics, and other items from the house are vibrant and fun, full of texture and detail and just so appealing! The child narrator, the imaginer, who is not revealed until the end, obviously feels secure within a loving family even while wishing for fewer restrictions. I honestly wasn’t quite sure if the imaginer was a girl or a boy – if anyone knows, please tell me – but it really doesn’t matter. It’s kind of nice that it’s ambiguous. This is a wonderful book for everyone (even if you aren’t part horse 😊)
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Thank you so much for sharing this author/illustrator book. I, too, ♥️ horses having grown up in the Southwest. The story sounds interesting. I like the fact the artwork is traditional and the child narrator is ambiguous. I must make sure it’s in my library system. 😍
It might well be in your library system, Robin! It got rave reviews from everyone on earth 😊
I love this book too and gifted it to two friends who have loved horses all their lives and now are first time grandmothers. It was the perfect gift! Fun review, Susanna! Thank you!
I’m so glad you like it, too, Mary Beth! I bought a copy for my granddaughter, too! 😊
Looks and sounds adorable! Thanks for sharing, Susanna!
It is SO adorable, Kim! Simple and perfect 😊
My daughter-in-law loves horses and actually owns one, so I wonder if my sweet granddaughter will grow to love them too. Perhaps this book will be a good birthday present soon.
Oh, I think it will, Marie! (Although I may be a bit biased because I love that horse in the pink tutu so much 😊)
I just had this book out from the library. I too love horses and I spent much of my childhood pretending I was a horse or riding my actual horse. Ahhh. Fun story!
Another horse lover! 😊 I’m glad you enjoyed this book, too, Angie!
Though…none of my horses would have ever worn a tutu! LOL
What a perfect book – and yes, I DID want to be a horse. And also a dragon. And maybe a frog… I love that this book supports imagination. Thanks for sharing it.
It’s really delightful, Sue! And now that you mention it, I believe I might like to try being a dragon, too! 😊
I love all of Sophie Blackall’s work–always beautifully illustrated and entertaining.
She is a master, isn’t she, Marcia?!
❤️❤️❤️What a great premise! Little girls everywhere will swoon reading this book! Thanks, Susanna! It’s on its way to me. Can’t wait.
You are exactly right, Sue! They will swoon! 😊 I hope you enjoy it when you get it!
I love Blackall’s work, and I look forward to reading this latest one. The title reminds me of the awesome Mix-n-Match challenge you hosted last spring and the prompt, “If I were”. Such fun!
It really IS fun, Patricia! I didn’t know about this book when I made up that prompt, but it is a good one for sparking ideas!
This book looks so delightful, and I look forward to reading it! Susanna, I love your stories of pretending to be a horse as a child. 🙂
I think you will love it, Sarah! And OMG – I was the definition of a horse crazy girl. And although I’m not sure I can still qualify as a “girl”, I am definitely still horse crazy all these decades later 😊
I definitely have to add this book to my collection. Growing up, my favorite vacations were trips to my aunt’s home in Michigan. That was where my first horseback riding experience took place! Ahh, memories! 😊💕🐎
My parents have a picture of me on a pony when I was less than 2, and I was the girl who begged ceaselessly for a pony. . . even though I grew up in Manhattan 😊
❤️🙂
I’m a horse lover too, and I grew up playing with as many toy horses I could convince people to give me, drawing horse pictures (the only creature I am good at drawing, because I drew them so much), and riding various horse related items including the ones that you put coins in at the stores. This book looks awesome, and I will keep my eye out for it.
Oh, my gosh, Linda! How could I have forgotten to mention my Breyer horses above?! I had a whole herd, and they all had names and pedigrees, and my sister I built a little barn and gave them stall cards and made them laters out of string. . . you get the idea 😊
Thanks for reminding me to read this one, Susanna. Love Sophie Blackall, love horses, love the idea of a child envisioning an entirely different persona. Such fun!
I just love how much this book conveys through simple text and delightful art, Marty, and any book with such a beautiful horse on the cover has me from the get-go! 😊
Thank you for sharing this book. I’m going to get a copy and check out Sophie Blackall’s other books. If I Was A Horse sounds like it might be a good comp for one of my stories…and finding good comps isn’t so easy.
Sophie Blackall has so many great titles, Eric. I think you’ll really enjoy reading her work. I hope If I Was A Horse turns out to be the perfect comp for your story!
Thanks. I went to the library to check it out. It wasn’t on the shelf, so I read some of her other work while the librarian did her magic and found it. There were two I especially enjoyed. The Baby Tree that Sophie wrote and Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields that Sophie illustrated. It’s a really cute countdown book featuring 6 wooly wombats and a dingo who fancies they’d make a great lunch. I highly recommend it.
I missed this one this past fall! Thank you for featuring it, Susanna! Now I’ve got to go find a copy. It sounds wonderful…and yes, my life as a child included horses and ponies on the farm. So I can’t wait!
I hope you love it as much as I do, Jilanne! I just adore that horse – so engaging!
I remember galloping everywhere! Great title!
Wasn’t it just the most fun, Robin? There is such freedom in being a horse! 😊