#269 of 1001 · April 26, 2021

When you were growing up, did you have a special relative that you always thought might secretly know magic? One whose gifts you treasured forever, believing they contained mysterious secrets? The narrator of Eve Bunting and Dennis Nolan’s Thunder Horse receives a tiny horse from her enigmatic Aunt Aldora, who tells her the creature will grow and change. Indeed, as the weeks wear on, the horse gets steadily larger and protruding nubs on its shoulders soon sprout feathers and become wings. Eventually, the great beast is large enough for a human to ride. However, as Aunt Aldora warns from the start, no magical being can be kept forever. Bunting’s first-person narrative mines true emotional depth from a scenario of magic realism. Nolan’s illustrations, drawn in colored pencil over watercolor washes on watercolor paper, employ lush, hazy color, delicate texture, and marvelously detailed equine anatomy. #wonder #horse #wings #flying #pegasus #magic #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks