I wanted to share a new addition to our Christmas Gift Guide 2025: If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall I received in exchange for this review. Inside this post is my affiliate links. If you click on the links and make a purchase I will make a small percentage from the products, you purchase.
My family love Dogs and we enjoy reading books about Dogs and this is why I can’t wait for Charlie to come home to share If We Were Dogs with Charlie and David. In the meantime I sat down and read the book this morning and I loved the story a lot.
I wish you could see the pale pink and brown cover with two Dogs sitting at the table. Opps the big Dog spilled his drink. I like how the Author ask us if we were dogs what kind would we be? If we were dogs what would we do
Like us the main character likes Cats but prefers Dogs just like Charlie and David. I like both and would like to have a Dog and Cat. What about you? I love how the Author takes the time to show us what Dogs would do.
We see the Dogs do tricks which Charlie and I need to teach my Dogs. Now, let’s go to the park. Oh, no the little dog says he doesn’t want to be a dog. He reminds the big dogs sometimes he has ideas to and being a dog wasn’t his idea.
To find out what the little dogs wants to be you will need to pick up a copy If We Were Dogs to share with your friends and family. If We Were Dogs is a great book for beginner readers, but adults will enjoy the story as well. Especially the ending and the illustrations.
About the book:
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A PBS News Hour Best Book of the Year
Two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall’s follow-up to her bestselling If I Was a Horse explores the challenges of first friendships through imaginative play.
If we were dogs, what kind would we be?
I’d be a big dog! And you’d be little dog.
Woof!
Join two friends as they bark and growl, woof and howl—and maybe even quack—in a romp that makes room for everybody’s ideas.
Sophie Blackall unleashes a marvelous game of pretend that explores navigating friendship and celebrates boundless imagination in this wonderful companion for her national bestseller If I Was a Horse.
“Blackall’s impeccably detailed, highly expressive illustrations add heart and humor to this tale about the endless paw-sibilities of pretend play—and the importance of speaking up for oneself.” ― The Horn Book (starred review)
“My favorite picture book this year … Parents love reading [If We Were Dogs] to children. The children are going crazy for this book.” —Ann Patchett, award-winning author and owner of Parnassus Books, TN
“Perfect for every underdog who wants to have a say.” ―Kirkus Reviews
Meet the Author: Sophie Blackall
Sophie Blackall is a Brooklyn-based Australian artist. She has illustrated over forty-five books for children, including the Ivy and Bean series, and has twice received the Randolph Caldecott Medal, in 2016 for Finding Winnie and in 2019 for Hello Lighthouse. She has also written and illustrated books for grown ups.
Blackall has collaborated with many notable authors, including Annie Barrows, Kate DiCamillo, Rukhsana Khan, Meg Rosoff and Judith Viorst.
Her editorial illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York City MTA and the MoMA Design Store. She has worked internationally with UNICEF and Save the Children as an artist and advocate for global health and literacy initiatives.
“Blackall, who elevates everything she illustrates, has a knack for using clever details to get the humor across.”–Booklist
“Khan has an ideal collaborator in Sophie Blackall, whose Chinese ink-and-watercolor drawings convey exquisite detail and precise emotion. Like all the best picture books, “Big Red Lollipop” amply rewards close examination.” – New York Times
“One of the best picture-book artists around, Blackall offers winsome art that is interesting in its use of perspective, perceptive in its depiction of family dynamics, and just plain adorable in its effort to make ferrets fetching. This is a book that’s clever in every sense of the word: skillful, original, and witty.” -Booklist
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
