On first glance, it is hard to resist picking If I Was a Horse up, with its eye-catching cover of a polka-dotted horse walking down a flight of stairs in a raised, sparkly pink tutu and purple and red parade hat.

On opening the book, the charming illustrations and limited wording depict a child’s fantasy of becoming a horse: running free, eating a sandwich in the kitchen, giving a sibling a ride to school, joining the school swim team, rolling in mud without taking a bath or wearing clothes unless in a parade, and sleeping standing up while dreaming great, galloping dreams.

In a final illustration, readers see the main character no longer as a horse but as a child wearing a familiar polka-dot pattern and enjoying the free range of imagination.

A two-time Caldecott medalist for illustration, Sophie Blackall provides a quiet celebration of flights of fancy that will delight young horse lovers or any child with an active imagination. With such lovely encouragement, who knows where imaginations given free rein might carry them?

(Originally posted on the Los Angeles Book Review and donated to the Maltby Food Bank.)