DeSaix (In the Back Seat, 1993, etc.) offers horse-obsessed readers Antonia, a girl who shares their fantasies of riding. Antonia climbs astride a carousel's russet horse and soon finds herself galloping over fields of green. The next day, the horse takes the girl for a ride back in time, when it was a gypsy's treasure and model for a carousel he was carving. In a twist of fate, Antonia and the woman who tends to the carousel share a link between past and present. Briskly paced and brimming with mystery, this story suits DeSaix's strangely luminous artwork--grainy pastels that are dreamy and penumbral. Baroque borders surround the time-travel illustrations, while sharp, squared corners frame everyday life. (Picture book. 4-8)
