A rollicking celebration of everyone's favorite ride. Lilting verse ("A prancing pig,/a dancing bear,/an ostrich loping,/and a hopping hare,/gliding, striding,/everyone riding,/side by side,/giddy-up! giddy-up!/I'll ride the wind,/they'll never catch up") is accompanied by joyous watercolors of children astride a succession of marvelously varied steeds, whiffing across the page. Rand captures the range of emotion--apprehension, pride, cautious enthusiasm, sheer delight--plus the whiffing motion and the sensation of returning to humdrum earth. Dad eating our popcorn while he waits and the almost-lost ticket are realistic touches.
