W hile Spokane's Looff Carrousel delights young and old just the way it is, for first-time children's book author Mary Carpenter it was a launchpad for inspiration. "I just thought it would be really neat to have the park come alive," she says. "The Carrousel and the history of the Carrousel is just so magical." In Ponies in the Park , written by Carpenter and illustrated by Mary Pat Kanaley, a young girl named Grace is disappointed to be stuck in the hospital overnight on her birthday. Unexpectedly though, magic dust, moonlight, and a birthday wish bring the historic Looff Carrousel and other sculptures in the park — the Bloomsday runners, Native salmon fishers, red wagon, garbage goat and a purple butterfly from Expo '74 — to life, and together they help Grace save a puppy in need.

https://www.inlander.com/spokane/history-art-and-a-just-a-touch-of-magic-combine-in-a-childrens-book/Content?oid=25475697

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