DREAM ANIMALS

An invitation to “close your eyes” and “snuggle in” to be transported by a menagerie of dream animals to magical adventures.

When readers fall asleep at night, “animals from long ago / And twice as far away” could carry them to their dreams on “wing or paw or fin.” A bear might carry them to a never-ending feast. A fox might take them to an “elfin hollow / Hidden underground.” Robins may fly them above the trees or a narwhal dive them beneath the seas to a mermaid tea party. A tiger could take them to a circus or perhaps a moth will carry them to the “very moon and stars.” Neatly enclosed within line borders on a serene, pale blue background, the enticing rhyming text accompanies a fluid sketch of a sleeping child in a real-world setting with a toy animal, foreshadowing the dream animal that, on the opposite page, transports the child to a fantasy destination revealed in the subsequent double-page spread. These stunning, full-color illustrations rely on polished brush strokes, midnight blue backgrounds and ethereal light to produce an almost surreal atmosphere in which children quietly ride their dream animals to fantastical venues, silently suggesting the infinite possibility of dreams.

A visually elegant and textually cadenced bedtime treat.