If We Were Dogs
If We Were Dogs is a children's picture book by Sophie Blackall, the two time Caldecott Medal winning illustrator known for Hello Lighthouse and Farmhouse. The book takes a simple imaginative premise and follows it through everyday scenes, asking what it would mean if we ran, slept, ate, and greeted one another the way dogs do. Blackall's warm illustrations, full of small comic detail, sit alongside spare text that invites young readers to picture themselves moving through the world on four legs. The mood is gentle and slightly silly rather than instructive, leaving plenty of room for kids and adults to add their own observations about the dogs in their lives. Like Blackall's other recent books, it lingers on small moments of connection and the rhythm of an ordinary day, rendered with painstaking craft.
What you might want to know about If We Were Dogs
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
An illustrated meditation on what daily life would be like if humans were dogs.
It is a picture book best suited to children roughly three through eight, though older readers enjoy Blackall's art.
Yes, Sophie Blackall has won the Caldecott Medal twice, for Finding Winnie and Hello Lighthouse.
If We Were Dogs was written by Sophie Blackall, published in 2025 by Little Brown & Company.
If We Were Dogs is 40 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, If We Were Dogs takes most readers under an hour to finish.
If We Were Dogs is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.