A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

Maria Marshall
2 hours ago
4 min read

I am so excited to be able to offer you all a sneak peek at this stunningly gorgeous, heartfelt tale, interweaving the Swedish Christmas traditions of the St Lucia pageant and the Dala Horse into an ingenious holiday and friendship story. Hope you enjoy it!

Book Cover - standing in front of a house decorated for Christmas, a boy and a girl hold up Dala horses in front of their grandmother.

A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse

Author: Sonja Anderson

Illustrator: Agnieszka Potocka

Publisher: Tynsdale Kids (September 9, 2025)

Ages: 4-7

Fiction

Themes:

Juletide, Christmas, Swedish traditions, Santa Lucia, Dala Horse, humor, and love.

Synopsis:

Celebrate the spirit of Juletide in this charmingly illustrated Swedish Christmas story about a little Dala horse’s wish to discover the true reason for the festive season.

Little Dala Horse knows nothing of Juletide or of love―he’s just been newly carved as a Christmas gift. He’s eager to learn about the Saint Lucia girl with a crown of glowing candles, the festive star boys, and the cute pepparkakor children. Little Dala Horse jumps into a boy’s pocket and experiences the Saint Lucia pageant for the first time. At first Little Dala is shy and hides, but when a small gingerbread girl is scared to go on stage for her dance, Little Dala finds courage to help her overcome her fear.

Along with the sweet seasonal story of the holiday tradition, this children’s picture book also features:

Tiny tomten (Scandinavian gnomes) hidden in the cozy, warm illustrations like an I Spy game for young readers
Common Swedish words and definitions for an educational element
The origin story of the iconic Swedish Dala Horse and the Saint Lucia Day celebration

Written by a Swedish author, this delightful yuletide tale about a newly carved Dala horse’s quest to discover the heart of what makes Christmas so special will become a heartwarming family keepsake for years to come.

Opening lines:

One frosty mid-December evening in Dalarna, the Woodcarver dipped the last horse of the day

into reddish-orange paint. She set him on a shelf to dry. “Tomorrow I’ll paint your swishes and

swirls, dots and dabs, Little Dala,” she promised, her eyes twinkling. “What a special gift you’ll

make for my sweet granddaughter this year. It’s nearly Jultide, don’t you know.”

What I LOVED about this book:

I am absolutely in love with all the extra Swedish treasures that Agnieszka Potocka included in her gorgeous, colorful illustrations. Such as the candelabra in the window, straw animals, traditional carvings and clocks, Swedish clothing, and border patterns seen in many the images. Playing with a linguistic phrasing, Sonja Anderson creates a fun refrain between the humans and the Little Dala horse - ". . . , don’t you know. Nej, Little Dala didn’t know."

Being newly created, as a completely 'clean slate,' the Little Dala horse brings the reader along on an experience of the Christmas holiday in Sweden.

Internal spread - on the left, in the woodworker's workshop, full of carved Christmas toys and tools and decorated for Juletide with a garland and a candelabra at the window, an older woman smiles at a newly carved little dala horse. On the right, three spot images of the small unpainted dala horse, woman cleaning up tools, and woman asleep in bed. On both sides a tomten holds a "sign" defining a Swedish word.

Text © Sonja Anderson, 2025. Image © Agnieszka Potocka, 2025.

This stunning opening also introduces two adorable, bearded tomten holding signs (which define Swedish terms) who pop up, as needed, throughout the book. Allowing Sonja Anderson to smoothly integrate the Swedish in the text and ingeniously provide a fun and unique holiday "version" of a glossary. I also loved the small tomten on the work bench and the one sitting in the window as the woman sleeps. Kids will enjoy hunting through the illustrations to find where Agnieszka Potocka hid other tomten.

In addition to exploring the traditions of Juletide and Dala horses, within the context of a family participating in a St. Lucia celebration, Sonja Anderson created a touching nod to the Velveteen Rabbit with the new, Little Dala horse wondering, "What does it mean to be loved? he wondered. I wish I knew." I adore the way the possession of the horse is depicted with the original carver (the soldier) in a colored setting in a kitchen and the boy playing with the horse, learning to carve, becoming the woodcarver, and his great-grandson carrying around the old Dala horse as spot illustrations on a white background.

Internal spread - on the left, a soldier carves the first Dala horse and a young boy plays with the horse. On the right, spot illustrations of the soldier teaching the boy to carve horses, a woodcarver painting three Dala horses, and the great-grandson of the woodcarver carries around the horse as he walks with his father.

I love the way Agnieszka Potocka plays with almost full bleed pages and white space, and her stunning nighttime full bleed spread of the kid's procession under a twinkling, stary sky, complete with a shooting star. This spread is so magical, it would be gorgeous as a framed print (see it in Monday's interview).

Internal spread - on the left, the woodcarver and her grandson head from the workshop, as the little wooden Dala horse is surrounded by sparkles and lifts a foot. On the right, the horse leaps from the window sill toward the boy's pocket.

Imbued with a bit of Christmas magic, the little Dala horse watches the kids in the St. Lucia procession and then, when the opportunity presents, jumps into the boy's coat pocket. Accompanying the family to the village Christmas celebration, he learns a little about the holiday and lot about the meaning of friendship and love. It includes a tender author's note and a backmatter discussion of Saint Lucia and her celebratory pageant. This is a wonderful, touching tweak of the Gingerbread man fairy tale using the traditions of a Swedish Juletide and will be make an excellent addition to your Christmas, fairytale retellings, or friendship collections.

Resources:

Photo collage of a toilet paper roll, cardboard, and clay Dala horses.

check out a couple of ways to make your own Christmas Dala Horse (here), (here), and (here).

which of your stuffed or toy animals would you like to come to life? Why? What would the two of you do?

what is a special Christmas or winter holiday tradition in your family? Who started it? What do you like most about it?

check out the coloring pages for the book.

If you missed my interview with Sonja Anderson on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.