The thoughtful, engaging narrator of this richly poetic picture book is a young Dogrib Indian boy living in the Northwest Territories of Canada who is intrigued by horses. The boy wonders if horses have secrets, if they think that fireworks "are strange flowers blooming in the sky." And so on a frigidly cold day he asks members of his family and community, "What's the most beautiful thing you know about horses?" and their responses are both delightful and profound. Plains Cree artist George Littlechild lends his distinctive style to the artwork that accompany's Richard Van Camp's wonderful, deeply felt story. His boldly colored images are full of both whimsy and beauty, and imbued with a mystical quality as the spirits of horses seem to dance on many pages. "What's the most beautiful thing you know about horses?" the boy asks readers at the conclusion of this uplifting story. "And what's the most beautiful thing you know about you?" (Ages 5-10)

On January's coldest day of the year in a small community in the Northwest Territories, a stranger to horses searches among family and friends for answers to an important question. It's forty below in the little town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories of Canada -- so cold that the ravens refuse to fly and author Richard Van Camp can't go outside. He belongs to the Dogrib tribe, whose people traditionally haven't used horses. To help pass the time, he decides to pose the question, "What's the most beautiful thing you know about horses?" to family members, friends, and artist George Littlechild, who is Plains Cree and knows a lot about horses. The answers range from zany to profound: Horses can run sideways; they have secrets; they can always find their way home. In this delightful new book, Littlechild's fanciful paintings perfectly capture Van Camp's gentle world-view. Together, they inspire readers to see the world in entirely new ways.