Not every boy daydreams about what kind of banana he would be, but this boy does. He also imagines being a cow: "If I was a cow I would want to be the one standing over there. That cow makes you feel like there is nothing more important than being a black cow standing on green grass." At first he thinks if he were a cloud, he'd be "a big black storm cloud" shooting lightning, thunder and hail, "[b]ut then, maybe a much smaller,/ lighter, fluffy sort of cloud/ would be a better sort of cloud to be." Debut author Alexandra Tylee balances the boy's more reflective daydreams with gut-felt declarations: "I don't want to be a fish." New Zealand artist Kieran Rynhart's splendid, delicately etched, muted illustrations have the same wondrous combination of dreaminess, humor, realism and whimsy as Tylee's imaginative storytelling. Not only a gem, but a potential launch pad for a life-long "If I was..." game. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness