I Wish I Had. . .

This is a beautiful story about wanting things sometimes that we don’t possess. “I wish I had the towering neck of a giraffe to reach up into the clouds.” Beautifully illustrated and lyrically written this picture book helps children discover the skills that they do and do not possess while

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seeing the skills that different animals do have. This story was originally written in Italian and translated by Leslie Mathews. The illustrations are very unique paintings that are rich in color and detail. I would recommend this story for children ages 3 and up. A story that will help provide great discussions about children in regards to the skills that we do and do not hold as our own.

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This book in verse tells of the many wonderful attributes animals have in our world. Wishing to have legs and tails like the beautiful creatures who dwell on our planet.

A touching book but I'm not sure the reading level matches the depth of the words. I would definitely use it as a read aloud

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during my poetry lessons and put it in my classroom for kids to enjoy independently. Great for kids who love animals.

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Originally published in Italy, this picture book would be useful in an elementary school writing class. The narrator wishes that "I had the quick heart of a mouse as it makes its escape." Using characteristics of animals the author ascribes them to humans. Perfect for making writing much richer.

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The deep rich colors of the illustrations bring more depth to the words.

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This large-scale book, with full-page color pictures, beautifully portrays characteristics of a number of birds and animals (example: "I wish I had the eyes of a blackbird to see every blade of grass growing..."). It would be an excellent starter for a creative writing project. The language, even

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though translated from Italian, is beautiful and expressive, and the illustrations are colorful and engaging, with plenty of minute details to complement the larger focus of each page. An excellent book for young children (grades K-3).

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Children and their favorite adults will enjoy this gentle story of wishing for animal strengths again and again. The illustrations draw the reader into the animal's world and invite later discussion over what can be seen or heard by each aniaml. What do you see in the woods with the listening deer?

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How fast is the rabbit? Some of the animals that are shown are given a different look - the whale and elephant have intricate plant and animals designs on their bodies instead of simple black or gray skin. Their ornate look is a delightful discovery. The frequent flower motif stitches the entire book together. This is a quiet time story, a story to read and think about, a story to talk about, and a story to read again and again. Children hearing this story again and again will probably begin to see their own abilities, and compare themselves to the different animals. "I can hear like an elepant. I can run like a rabbit. I can help you because I am a person, not an animal." Enjoy this story with your favorite child.

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Beautiful artwork! And very nice story, really loved this picture book.

This book describes the main strength of animals, such as the long neck of a giraffe, the camouflage of a tiger, the strong wings of a goose, the fast legs of a hare, etc.

Each page of this book shows a new animal and the author wishing to do what that animal does well. The last animal is an elephant and the caption says : “I wish I had the ears of an elephant to be able to hear what the heavens say.”

I Wish I Had.. is a beautiful visual book for young children to explore. It ventures through the wishes of the narrator. However, the wishes the narrator makes are unique and personal. Each wish originates from the characteristic of an animal. This book visually depicts creativity and thinking

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outside of the box.

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A wonderfully illustrated meditation on the most desirable attributes of different animals.

As posted on Outside of a Dog:

I am a sucker for giraffes. Give me a book with a giraffe on the cover, and I am a happy camper. And so it was with great joy I received a preview copy of Giovanna Zoboli’s I Wish I Had…, with it’s beautiful illustration (by Simona Mulazzani) of a towering

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giraffe on the cover. Sadly, a giraffe does not feature on the inside of the book; the end of the title sentence is presented on the back cover. But no mind. The book is full of beautifully illustrated animals, including a tiger, a stalking cat, a wild goose and an owl. Mulazzani’s illustrations are definitely the high point of this quick read. The text is nice, a refrain of “I wish I had…”, such as “I wish I had the nimble legs of a hare as it runs until it is out of breath”. Some lines scan very well, but others are a bit awkward in their pace, and the final page ends rather abruptly. I don’t know if this is the responsibility of Zoboli, or the translator (the book was originally printing in Italian). All in all, however, it is a beautiful book to flip through, and a pleasing refrain that would be well suited for bedtime.

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Italian author/illustrator team Giovanna Zoboli and Simona Mulazzani, who have also collaborated on The Big Book of Slumber and Felix, here delivery a dreamy meditation on the animal world, and the many amazing characteristics of specific animals. As the narrator wishes they had this or that - the

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contentment of a dog when it is snowing outside, the thoughts of the deer who listens in the wood - it becomes clear that what is sought is more than just special skills. It is connection - to the natural world, and to the cosmos itself. This last is evident, as the book closes with the wish for "the huge ears of an elephant to hear what the heavens say..."

Originally published in Italy as Vorrei avere, I Wish I Had... is another of those Zoboli titles that seems so simple and sweet upon the surface, but which offers hidden depths of meaning and delight, for the alert reader. In this respect, it reminds me of Zoboli's The Most Mysterious Mouse, which was the single best picture-book I read, back in 2016. I notice that many reviewers seemed to dislike this one, reading the narrative as a simple wish for various animals' abilities. For me though, the wishes expressed spoke more to what those abilities signified, in the larger scheme. Thus the wish for the singing of the whale as it crosses the ocean is not simply a desire for the whale's own voice, but a longing for a means of self guidance through the darkness, a longing for a method of finding one's own kin. Each of the wishes expressed here could thus be interpreted either on the surface level, or on a deeper level. The accompanying artwork from Mulazzani is just breathtakingly beautiful, with gorgeous details - the designs on the whale's body, the apartment building-looking trees that the lemurs are climbing - that add to the richness of each scene. I don't know that this one will strike everyone as it did me. Perhaps I am over-interpreting, but then, reading is in the eye of the reader, not the writer, so I won't apologize. Instead, I'll respond to the book's title by wishing that more of Zoboli's titles had been translated into English! Recommended to picture-book readers who appreciate gorgeous art, and dreamy, more philosophical texts.

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