Dream a Little Dream with Me: Happy Dreamer by Peter H. Reynolds

Some times the world tells me,

"Sit still! Be quiet! Focus!"

Sure, there are times when there's nothing for it but to get down to it and get the job done!

But then, there are times when it's good to dream "really good dreams.," swinging on a star dreams, rainbows in a jar dreams.

I'm a happy dreamer. My dreams have a mind of their own.

Dreams that float free, fly in the sky, touch the clouds and swing down to earth again. Dreams in the dark, silent dreams that can be heard in silence ....

Dreams that might be messy!

Peter H. Reynolds celebrates free-form daydreaming in his newest, Happy Dreamer (Orchard Books, 2017). With a tousle-haired boy who rises from a colorless desk and flies through the sky, with a happy hiking girl, a painting kid with a colorful palette and an elated actor dramatically in mid-delivery of his lines, author-illustrator Reynolds puts in a plug for playful dreaming and shows the reader "all the ways to be a dreamer... "

JUST BE YOU!

Says Publishers Weekly, "Reynolds’s hand-lettered text and airy cartoons dance across the pages, capturing the freewheeling workings of the child’s mind."

Dino-Pet: If I Had A Raptor by George O'Connor

IF I HAD A RAPTOR, I'D WANT TO GET HER AS A BABY, WHEN SHE'S TEENSY AND TINY, AND FUNNY AND FLUFFY.

I WOULD GIVE HER A LITTLE BLUE BELL.

And it's a good thing our little would-be pet owner has that bell handy!

She finds her ideal pet with its litter mates in a cardboard box marked FREE RAPTORS. It's blue and furry and cuddly, and just as she'd hoped, it likes to snuggle on her lap and sun herself on the windowsill.

Just like most new pets, her baby blue raptor is a night owl, playing around "like crazy" at night and waking her up at ungodly hours of the morning so that they see a lot of sunrises together. She makes it no secret when she's hungry, but she's not above walking away from her dish, nose in the air and tail swishing, if she's not pleased with the entree.

But unlike most kitties and puppies, raptors grow and grow and GROW.Our girl has to fetch some lopping shears from the garage to trim her long claws and teach her where it is NOT a good idea to sharpen them. And that blue bell around her neck warns the birds and other potential prey when the raptor goes out for a bit of stalking practice.

But this raptor is always ready for a hug, in George O'Connor's  If I Had a Raptor (Candlewick Press, 2014).  This furry, fluffy raptor's behavior bears a close resemblance to that more common household predator pet, the cat, and ever since Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur strolled through town, kids have dreamed of a dinosaur pet, and author O'Connor obliges with a clearly fanciful dino and a young pet owner who is just as doting and delightful as can be. Artist O'Connor provides plenty of visual humor in the illustrations, while his pom-pom ponytailed pet owner shows just how it's done. Publishers Weekly gives this one a starred review, with words of high praise, saying it "strikes an ideal balance between visual sophistication and warmth."

After the Bath Comes...: On My Way to Bed by Sarah Maizes

"I AM NOT READY FOR BED.

BED IS FOR TIRED PEOPLE. I AM NOT A TIRED PERSON.

I STILL HAVE ENERGY."

Livi, the Princess of Procrastination, Milady of Dillydally, the Diva of Dawdle, is back, her fertile fancy unquenched by her debut dunking in the nightly bath, again confronts the irresistible force....

"BEDTIME, LIVI!"

Livi is hula hooping in the living room when the call comes from Mom. But Livi finds ways to make her progress toward bedtime a non-stop adventure.

"I AM IN A CIRCUS--TEETERING ON THE HIGH WIRE.  THE CROWD HOLDS ITS BREATH...."

Livi is a rolling stone of inspiration, but Mom is a rock of resolve.

Livi tries more fantasy inventions on her way to brush her teeth: she is a dentist checking her little brother's stuffed animals for cavities. On her way she snatches up a dropped towel for a cape and becomes a famous magician, until through her door she spots her sister's space project in progress, whereupon she becomes an astronaut piloting her spaceship. Livi daydreams her way slowly down the hall, while Mom waxes adamant:

"IN BED...  NOW!" 

Even in bed, Livi's ingenuity doesn't lag.

"WATER! IT'S A DESERT IN HERE!"

And when at last all the bedtime stalls are exhausted and she's snuggled down, warm and cozy, Livi's imagination doesn't fail her as she slips into her cave and begins her hibernation.

"I'M A BEAR...."

Sleep time is ever scintillating with Livi along, in Sarah Maizes' further adventures in bedtime avoidance, On My Way to Bed (Walker, 2013).  Although it may delay lights out a bit, you have to pair this one with author Maizes' first book, On My Way to the Bath (see my 2012 review here). Illustrator Michael Paraskevas' hilarious and detailed illustrations of Livi's flights of fancy are a good way to sneak up on bedtime for parent and child.  As Kirkus says, "It's hard to resist her final wail--"I don't want to miss anything!"--which reveals what's really been going on here. Livi's imaginative play takes the experience to an entirely superior level."

Battle of the Imaginary Buddies: Pingo and the Playground Bully by Brandon Mull

IN SECOND GRADE CHAD OFTEN PLAYED WITH HIS IMAGINARY FRIEND PINGO DURING RECESS.

SEVERAL OF HIS CLASSMATES HAD IMAGINARY FRIENDS AS WELL.

All is well with Chad and his friends. Even their pretend pals have complementary superpowers: Tiffany has Awesome Girl; Gary has Sparky the Robot at his command; and Dustin had Mr. Bob, the world's smallest super guy residing in his pocket at all times. With characters like that, the four kids share some unique adventures on the playground every day.

But one day, after an bizarre battle with the Lava Monsters, the four friends begin to boast about how their "special friends" are the best, and an epic conflict arises, with each imaginary alter ego besting the others in his and her own own way. To Chad's dismay, Pingo is a perennial second place in every match. Finally, Chad's pal steps in to broker a truce.

"THIS IS SILLY!" PINGO SAID. "CONTESTS ONLY PROVE WHO IS BEST AT CERTAIN THINGS."

But while the four friends are considering this piece of wisdom, they face a new adversary--their classmate Jeremy and his faux friend Grunt. Grunt is a hypothetical hero who mirrors his human creator--long on muscle and short on subtleties. Jeremy and Grunt lean more to a philosophy of pounding rather than persuasion. If Pingo is, as Chad still maintains, the BEST imaginary friend, can he figure out a way to psych out Jeremy and Grunt before everyone gets bested in a playground putdown?

Brandon Mull's latest book in Pingo series, his Pingo and the Playground Bully (Shadow Mountain, 2012) offers primary graders a look at how to co-opt a bully into becoming a buddy. Brandon Dorman's illustrations give this picture book its punch and pizzazz, especially in his illustrations of the competing fictional friends. While inviting the bully into their team of buddies may not work in the upper grades, it's a plausible plot line for second graders, and the use of their alter egos as expressions of their personalities and aspirations offers readers some insight into the primary grade social scene.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! Have Fun, Molly Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell and David Catrow

"When I was your age...."

Kids are sure to hear stories from their elders beginning with this predictable phrase. It usually goes on to some version of "we didn't have..." or "we had to...," and kids usually tune out at this point.

But this time Molly Lou Mellon actually listens to her Grandma's story:

"BACK IN THE OLDEN DAYS, I DIDN'T HAVE FANCY DOLLS OR ACTION FIGURES.  I MADE THEM OUT OF TWIGS, LEAVES AND FLOWERS LIKE HOLLYHOCKS AND DAISIES."

Molly abandons the  plastic whoseywhatsits in her overstuffed toy chest and tries out the do-it-yourself mode for herself.

She loots the flower gardens for fancy outfits and mines the backyard lawn and garden gear for her own fanciful doll house in the treetops.  She follows Grandma's model and raids the garage for all kinds of boxes from which to build the coolest toy race car ever, and abandons those cliched cartoon networks to watch passing cloud shapes.

Then one day, Molly gets a new neighbor, Gertie, who is heard to complain:

"I'M BORED, BORED, BORED!"

Gertie's got gobs of store-bought stuff, but when Gertie comes over, Mollie shows her a whole new way to play.

ON TUESDAY, GERTIE DROVE OVER IN HER BATTERY-OPERATED FULLY LOADED COUPE DE VILLE.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" SCREAMED MOLLIE LOU MELLON, RIGHT BEFORE HURTLING DOWN THE HILL IN HER TURBO BOX CAR, HAND PAINTED WITH ORANGE AND RED FLAMES.

GERTIE WAS AMAZED.

What's better than a girl with a great imagination? Two girls who share their imaginations and create some amazing playtime experiences! Molly proves a great guru of Grandma's lessons, and Gertie is soon outdoing her new friend with her fanciful ideas in Patty Lovell's Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2012).   Lovell's narration sets the stage, but leans heavily on the kooky illustrative style of David Catrow, whose outrageous contraptions and stylish artistic invention keep this one well on the comic side of  didacticism. Kids will find plenty of inspiration in Catrow's unique and witty cartoons, and maybe, just maybe they'll take themselves outdoors to see what they can do with a little imagination, too.

At the Foot of the Stairs: The Dark by Lemony Snicket

The Dark lived in the same house as Laszlo.

But mostly it spent its time in the basement. All day long the Dark would wait in a distant corner.

Laszlo's heart sinks with the sun.  That certain slant of light over the windowsill tells him the sun is going down.  He knows what comes next.  THE DARK.

He's met the dark in small doses, in the closet and behind the shower curtain. And Laszlo has his own resources, a big flashlight to sleep with and  a small nightlight near his bed which keeps the dark away.  He even visits from the safety of the top of the cellar stairs, softly saying, "Hi. Dark."

But then one night the slender lad in blue jammies wakes up to--nothing but dark.  Quickly he pulls out his flashlight and shines it at the door of his room.  It is dark beyond that opening and he seems to hear a  hoarse voice:

The voice was as creaky as the roof of the house, and as smooth and cold as the windows and sounded very far away.

"I want to show you something," said the Dark.

"Downstairs."

Calm but clutching his flashlight in front of him, Laszlo follows all the way down the long stairs to the basement, where the voice seems to be coming from a dusty chest in the corner. He realizes he's going to have to open that long-closed drawer.

But the Dark turns out to be a bit of a pedant as he holds forth on the need for creaky roofs  and shower curtains and dim closets, all the while spinning out the suspense until the contents of that drawer are revealed, in Lemony Snicket's and Jon Klaasen's new The Dark (Little, Brown, 2013). Two promising partners for the picture book set, Snicket does a fine job of building a sense of apprehension about the dark at the foot of the stairs, and Klaasen's  classic, cool, and controlled illustrations are a perfect foil for the author's wryly lyrical text.  Luckily, there's the light at the end of the tunnel for brave little Laszlo, as he finds a mysterious cache of lighted bulbs, one of which is just the right size to restore his bedroom night light, and Laszlo lies down with a new view of the Dark as he drops off to sleep.

Anyone who is, (or has ever been) afraid of the dark will find this fanciful confrontation of that old fear downright... enlightening.

Food Fest: If All the World Were Food by Carl Warner

IF ALL THE WORLD WERE ORANGE,
WE WOULD LIVE IN PUMPKIN HOUSES
WHERE CARROTS, BEANS, AND TANGERINES
FORM TREES AND ROCKS AROUND US.

Only a fantastical, fanatical foodie could conjure up a world composed solely of foodstuffs, in colors for every season and time of year. A world of green? Yes, with trees of curly kale and broccoli, and bridges of carved cucumber.

A world of brown? Well, lots of chocolate for starters!

In a world of silver the sea would be shiny-scaled fish. A world of pink would be a world built of bubble gum, hot pink gummy worms, and jelly beans, and a world of white would be filled with ice cream castles with waffle cone turrets.

With illustrations both realistic and surrealistic, there’s something for every child’s taste in Carl Warner’s imaginative A World of Food: Discover Magical Lands Made of Things You Can Eat! (Abrams, 2012). As in his 2010 Carl Warner's Food Landscapes Warner’s fanciful but meticulous illustrations in a super-saturated palette make for lots of eye-candy appeal, and in this latest, there is a  lot of detail on each color’s double-page spread to make this book an ebullient browse. For classroom food units or just food-fun reading, pair this one with Caldecott artist David Wiesner’s June 29, 1999 or Judi Barrett’s all-time food-fest favorite, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  Publishers Weekly puts in a plug: "A delightful supplement that should be browsed at leisure."

Just Doodling: Andrew Drew and Drew by Barney Saltzburg



ANDREW WAS A DOODLE BOY.

HE DREW... AND DREW... AND DREW.

Andrew has a way with a line.

With his black marker in hand, a new drawing appears with every turn of the page in Barney Saltzburg’s newest about an aptly named artist, Andrew Drew and Drew (Abrams, 2012).

Andrew moves his black marker across the large bright white  pages, creating an ambiguous line which morphs from one thing, as in the stairs that Andrew mounts to the turn of the first half-page, into the back of a scary dinosaur, and then as gatefold flaps and partial pages unfold, become a wind-blown kite which becomes a soaring spaceship, and on and on as Andrew’s imagination follows his doodles.

As in the classic Harold and the  Purple Crayon, Andrew’s creations are as unlimited as his imagination. Saltzburg sets Andrew, shown in pastel colors, against his limitlessly empty background in order to set off his black-line creations to best effect, and, as Andrew knows, a line need never end and so there will always be . . .

MORE TO DRAW TOMORROW!

Shape Shifter: Perfect Square by Michael Hall

IT WAS A PERFECT SQUARE.

AND IT WAS PERFECTLY HAPPY.

With nothing more than a square--and a wiggly line, which forms the perfect square's opening proud grin--the creative Michael Hall is off again on an exploration of the possibilities of geometric shapes, this time limiting himself to the perfect square, solid, symmetrical, and, as we see, in the hands of a truly creative writer, endowed with endless possibilities.

To begin, Hall slices his square diametrically, producing large and smaller and smaller trapezoids and a couple of equilateral triangles, ventilated with round holes. But what can he make of those?

Why, a fountain--sprinkled with water bubbles, a refreshing idea.

On Tuesday, Hall takes the familiar square and tears it by hand into rough-edged strips, and of that and the line he grows a garden of long-stemmed flowers. Wednesday finds the square shredded to form the landscape of a park, complete with a kite in flight.

In turn the square is shattered into triangular shards to form a bridge, cut into strips to shape it into a river, and on Saturday it is crumpled and wrinkled to make itself into a mountain range. At last on Sunday, the square waits to see what the creator's hand will do next.

NOTHING HAPPENED.

ITS FOUR EQUAL SIDES WERE CONFINING.

ITS FOUR MATCHING CORNERS WERE RIGID AND CRAMPED.

But design master Michael Hall has one more surprise for the reader when the square's sad frown transforms itself into windowpanes--a window with quite a view of the full landscape created during the week.

Michael Hall, whose masterful creative hand made a menagerie of the much-misused heart shape in his notable My Heart Is Like a Zoo, gives the perfection of the square its due in his brand-new Perfect Square (Greenwillow, 2011), a book which is uniquely beautiful, a lesson in geometry, and a take-off point for endless art and craft activities as well. As Publishers Weekly puts it persuasively, "A smart lesson in thinking outside the box (or the square)."

Goodnight, Sweet Princess: Princess Says Goodnight! by Naomi Howland

At the palace in the nighttime,
When the Princess leaves the ball,
Is she practicing her curtsies
While she dances down the hall?

Even princesses (and princess wannabes) have bedtimes, and Naomi Howland's and David Small's newest, Princess Says Goodnight, (Harper, 2010) takes a novel look at how one would-be royal daughter sees it.

The book actually begins on the title page, with an ordinary family enjoying their evening together. An older boy and girl are deep in their books in comfy easy chairs, the sleepy family hound is hogging the couch, and, stifling yawns, the weary parents begin to amble toward their beds. One member of the family, however, has her own view of this prosaic scene.

The younger girl, a red-headed bundle of energy, skips behind her parents down the hall, and as they pass the long hall mirror, we get a glimpse of how she sees herself--in a fine medieval gown, with her royally-attired parents who are obviously ready to take off their crowns and rest their royal heads. Brother and sister morph into court jester and chamber maid, and the Princess ascends the castle staircase in the royal manner, lit by an elegant candelabra, to find frothy milk and a creamy chocolate eclair awaiting for her in the royal bedchamber. The Princess' chamber features an elegant canopied bed, and she is served her bedtime snack from an ornate pitcher on a silver salver.

When she takes a bubble bath, what do you suppose?
She has a special fluffy towel for each one of her toes!

A princess, of course, can order all her clothes in her favorite colors, which in her case is "every pretty shade of pink," and her bathrobe is silky, flounced, and floating with feathers. The jester amuses her while her lady's maid tidies up, and then her royal parents drop in for the final nightly ritual:

Does Daddy check the mattress for peas and other lumps?
Will her mom fluff up her pillows and smooth out any bumps?

Does she hang her tiara on the bedpost overnight?
Does she get a bedtime story before turning off the light?
Yes, she does, and a big kiss, too, and then she says GOODNIGHT!

Now that's the way to retire in royal style, and as we see, all it takes is an inventive imagination to put a princess to bed in the regal manner. Howland's bouncy rhymes are fully augmented by award-winning artist David Small's wonderful watercolor illustrations which breathe life and humor into this fanciful bedtime tale. Little details add charm, such as the ten gilded racks for the Princess' ten toe towels and a family cat which nonchalantly takes these transformations in stride as he follows her to bed.

Once in bed, the Princess again becomes an ordinary little girl in her footed sleepers, ready, along with her plush froggy prince, for her royal beauty sleep. It's a different way to go to bed which will charm devotees of the Disney princess persona and all kids whose imaginations like to begin their dreams well before they fall asleep.