The carousel by Ursula Dubosarsky

Ill. by Walter Di Qual. Penguin, 2012. ISBN 978 0 670 07462 4.
(Ages 6+) Picture book. Journeys. In rhyming stanzas, Dubosarsky tells the story of a young girl, and her relationship with the horse she rides on the carousel. When circling, the girl can hear the beating heart of the horse, and knows that he is sad. He is confined to the rhythm of the carousel, going up and down, around and around, and longs to be free. Her father's voice takes her away from her wishes for the horse, but that night, staring out of her bedroom window, she sees the little horses breaking away from their confinement, galloping along the roadways and off into the hills where they gallop forever free.
Children will love the story of the little horses breaking lose from their captivity and ponder the position of the little girl and her relationship with the horses. The illustrations, rendered in bold colours, with white thick splotches of paint, pages of an almost sprayed effect, mixed with a water colour effect for the horses and their ride to the hills, are mystical in their nature, giving an ethereal overlay to the story.
It always astonishes me that two stories can be published within a few years, and be so similar. Kids will love to read and compare this sorry with Flame stands waiting by Corinne Fenton (Black Dog Books), another tale of a horse in a carousel.
Fran Knight