190,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Come visit us in-store this weekend! 📚 Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

If We Were Dogs

Brief Description
Two-time Caldecott Medallist 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 a little dog. Woof! Join two... Read More
Format: Hardback
$2700
Elsewhere:
$2999
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
Two-time Caldecott Medallist 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 a 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 an exuberant game of pretend that explores navigating friendship and celebrates boundless imagination. PRAISE FOR SOPHIE BLACKALL: 'Full of imagination and gentle humour . . . The delightful illustrations provide outstanding detail and invite the reader to pore over the images' CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA on If I Was a Horse 'Charming and whimsical visual surprises are found throughout the impeccably designed pages . . . An exquisite equine fantasy, this encourages imaginations to giddyup and run wild and free' BOOKLIST on If I Was a Horse 'Absolutely gorgeous and brilliant fun' READINGS on If I Was a Horse 'A tender, layered masterpiece that itself deserves to be passed along for generations' NEW YORK TIMES on Farmhouse 'Gloriously detailed . . . One of the most evocative and beautiful picture books I've had the pleasure of reading' BETTER READING on Farmhouse 'A lyrical love letter to the past . . . The illustrations feel like a patchwork quilt - with pieces of history and experience stitched together to make a beautiful and complete whole . . . Every page can be revisited over and over again' CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA on Farmhouse 'Painted with the featherlight touch that distinguishes Caldecott Medallist Blackall's work, this graceful account of a lighthouse keeper's life celebrates a lost era . . . A jewel of a creation' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on Hello Lighthouse 'I will be surprised if a more exquisite picture book will be published this year . . . Children will be fascinated' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW on Hello Lighthouse

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780734423641

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 26 August 2025

Country: Australia

Imprint: Lothian Children's Books

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 261.0mm

Height: 264.0mm

Weight: 450g

Pages: 40

About the Author

Sophie Blackall is the bestselling and two-time Caldecott Medal-winning artist behind Finding Winnie, Hello Lighthouse, Farmhouse and If I Was a Horse. Sophie has illustrated more than fifty books, and her work has been shortlisted for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year and the ABIA Children's Picture Book of the Year. If I Was a Horse was also the winner of the BookPeople Children's Book of the Year Award. Sophie was born and raised in Australia, and now lives in Brooklyn with her family. In 2022, Sophie was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to children's literature.

Also by Sophie Blackall

View all
  • Farmhouse
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBCA PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKPEOPLE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 A beautifully illustrated and moving tribute to a beloved place from two-time Caldecott Medallist, Sophie Blackall. Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable, thrilling detail. Based...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Farmhouse
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBCA PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKPEOPLE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 A beautifully illustrated and moving tribute to a beloved place from two-time Caldecott Medallist, Sophie Blackall. Step inside the dollhouse-like interior of Farmhouse and relish the daily life of the family that lives there, rendered in impeccable, thrilling detail. Based...
    Hardback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Hello Lighthouse
    A beautiful picture book about hope, change and the passing of time. Winner of the Caldecott Medal 2019. On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. From dusk to dawn, the lighthouse beams, sending its light out to sea, guiding the ships on their way. As the seasons pass and the...
    Paperback
    $2199
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • If I Was a Horse
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE CBCA PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE ABIA CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024 WINNER OF THE BOOKPEOPLE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024 If I was a horse, I would gallop all day. I could go anywhere I want . . . If you were a horse, what would you...
    Hardback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Story Rug
    From two-time Caldecott Medallist Sophie Blackall and artist Phoebe Wahl comes a luminous book that braids together the joy of storytelling with the satisfaction of learning a new craft. Class 203 is braiding. In fact, they are in a braiding craze. They started with hair and shoelaces, and now they have brought rags from home. Their braid gets longer and...
    Hardback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Finding Winnie
    A #1 New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the Caldecott Medal about the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • Ahoy!
    Join a child captain and parent first mate as they embark on a wild high seas adventure... all without leaving the living room! This imaginative romp of a picture book is filled with glorious illustrations from a beloved Caldecott Medalist and New York Times bestselling creator. A Horn Book and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Best Book of...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

More from Children's Books

View all
  • New Release
    Gruffalo Granny
    The brand new Gruffalo picture book from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The Gruffalo said to his daughter one day, "Your Gruffalo Granny is coming to stay." Return to the deep dark wood with the first new Gruffalo story in over 20 years, and meet Gruffalo Granny as she visits the Gruffalo family. This fresh and exciting new Gruffalo adventure...
    Hardback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Sprinkle in Time: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #15)
    New Release
    A Sprinkle in Time: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #15)
    In the newest saga, our anti-hero, Grandpa, alters the fabric of time and space. Is his evil the necessary soil for Dog Man and friends to grow and bloom? Can we all step up to be the change? It's the saga of the century—Dog Man: A Sprinkle in Time!
    Hardback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Fight or Flight: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (21)
    When the going gets tough, what’s a wimpy kid to do? In Fight or Flight, Greg Heffley faces his biggest challenge yet as he becomes a target for the school bully. Luckily for Greg, his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, takes karate, so at least Greg’s got someone in his corner. But an unexpected twist makes Greg realize he’s facing an uphill...
    Paperback
    $1699
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Detective Beans Colouring Club
    New Release
    Detective Beans Colouring Club
    Help Detective Beans solve the case of the missing colours! Join the Colouring Club now! Join the Detective Beans Colouring Club! Inside you'll find 40 removable colouring pages featuring scenes from all over Cat Town. Filled with all the characters you know and love from the Detective Beans graphic novels like Biscuits, Beans' mum, Mr Brickle, Bear, Detective Baby Bird...
    By Li Chen
    Paperback
    $1799
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Sixth Faction
    Beatrice Prior stands on the brink of a decision every person in her world must make: five factions, five futures, five lives. She has a plan: she's going to make the bravest choice, and leave Abnegation behind to join Dauntless, even though it means leaving her family behind. But when tragedy strikes at her Choosing Ceremony, everything changes—her world, her...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Naturals: Dangerous Impulses Book 5
    The Naturals are BACK! No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers the highly anticipated new installment in her beloved Naturals Series. Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI's Naturals program at seventeen because she had an incredible ability to read people. Since then, Cassie, fellow profiler Dean, emotion‐reader Michael, lie‐detector Lia, and statistical genius Sloane have caught serial...
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    All of Us
    A new heart-wrenching, well-researched historical novel for middle-grade readers. 'The weirdest thing,' continues Tove, 'is that I don't feel any different to the rest of you.' 'That's because you're not!' snaps Birgitte. 'You're Danish.' 'So why do the Nazis hate me and not you?' When twelve-year-old Viggo and his friends Finn, Tove, Birgitte and Konrad start writing rude letters to...
    Hardback
    $2599
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Star Path
    New Release
    The Star Path
    A young whale searches for the whale rider's heir and a teenager takes an epic voyage to Antarctica with a fleet of waka hourua to claim his lost inheritance, in this breathtaking return to the world of global hit The Whale Rider, over thirty years on. From the internationally acclaimed author of The Whale Rider comes a novel about the...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Wahine
    New Release
    Wahine
    From a majestic mermaid to a clay woman, the creator of glaciers to the mother of gardening, discover powerful wahine and how their stories shaped the world around us. Wahine introduces readers to twelve purakau of brave, bold, and inspiring women of Aotearoa. A beautifully illustrated collection that will delight the whole whanau, from award-winning illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White....
    Hardback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Lottie Brooks’s Twelve Disasters of Christmas
    From hilarious MEGA bestselling author, Katie Kirby, comes a new story collection from the world of Lottie Brooks! But this time... it's not about Lottie! From hilarious MEGA bestselling author, Katie Kirby, comes a new story collection from the world of Lottie Brooks! And it's CHRISTMAS! In The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks we spent the holiday season with...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Matihe! Achoo! Matihe! Achoo!
    New Release
    Matihe! Achoo!
    What happens when a grumpy tupua has to sneeze? Matihe! Achoo! is a bilingual story about the tupua Mataoho and his connection to the volcanoes of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. It comes with an action song to engage young readers! He pūrākau e pā ana ki a Mataoho me ngā puia o Takamaki Makaurau. He tupua pukukino a Mataoho e noho...
    Paperback
    $1899
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Sweet As Looky Book
    New Release
    The Sweet As Looky Book
    Can you find all the chocolate fish? Is it possible for kiwi to fly? Can you spot the difference? See Aotearoa New Zealand through the eyes of award-winning artist Donovan Bixley in The Sweet As Looky Book. Use your finest skills to seek out pirates in the Bay of Islands and birds in Rakiura Stewart Island. Get in a car...
    Hardback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 190,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.