Claudia lives in the beautiful city of Venice. As she rushes from her apartment out into the campo and into an alley, she stops at the glassblower’s workshop. In the window are the wondrous glass figurines she admires daily. So many different animals. Elephant’s owls, giraffes, but also horses. Even winged horses.
The glassblower invites her in and asks if she has heard of Pegasus, the winged horse who lives in the stars. From beneath the counter, he brings out a little glass horse with broken wings. He gifts it to her, saying that one day she will discover its secret. The little horse sits on her windowsill from where she watches the families and children playing in the campo.
One day the water rises in Venice, creeping under her door and up the steps towards her bedroom. The little horse calls to her but she doesn’t notice. As the water recedes her family know their building is beyond repair and they will have to move away. She misses her Venice home and is sad. But as she takes her little horse from her suitcase something magical happens.
This is a most lavish book. With warm classical style illustrations that give us plenty to engage with and talk about, we can’t help but be pulled into the beautiful tale. You feel your own imagination firing as you dream of travelling on a winged horse in the sky. It encourages us to dream of a story in something broken. It also tells us of the importance of home. It’s simply quite magical.
It’s a book destined to encourage readers to create their own magical and extraordinary dreams every time its pages are opened.
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 3+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arnold Zable is a highly acclaimed novelist, storyteller and human rights advocate.
His works include Cafe Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, Violin Lessons and The Fighter, which was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and a New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award. Zable lives in Melbourne.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Alison Lester was born in November, 1952 in Foster in Victoria, Australia.
She grew up on a farm overlooking the sea and first rode a horse as a baby in her father’s arms. She still lives in the country and rides her horse whenever she can.
After training as an art teacher and teaching for one year, Alison began illustrating books in 1979 and five years later, wrote her first book.
Her picture books mix imaginary worlds with everyday life, encouraging children to believe in themselves and celebrate the differences that make them special.
Family and nature are the most important themes in her work – loving and caring for the world and its people. She is involved in many community art projects and spends part of every year travelling to remote indigenous communities, using her books to help children and adults write and draw about their own lives.
In 2011 Alison, along with Boori Prior, was appointed Australia’s first Children’s Laureate, a position they shared for two years.
She was also an ambassador for the 2012 National Year of Reading.
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