REM

Hold on tight—Banyai (Re-Zoom, 1995, etc.) has ``animated'' a new visual adventure that takes place behind closed eyes, where the dreamworld offers many more irrational possibilities than the realms of his earlier work. Fans of Crockett Johnson's Harold will find the magic protocol familiar: A drawn line becomes a pond; the artist's reflection, when swirled in the water and fished out, turns into a coat. The clown, pup, and snowman who populate this world pay tribute to another dreamtime visitor: Windson McCay's Little Nemo. As wordless as Banyai's other books, the illustrations draw onlookers in; the same pictures that turn a frog into a prince also turn the pages and move readers through the book. It ends with a clichÇ—it was all just a dream—but not before the images have been grounded in the real toy vehicles and dolls of the young dreamer's room. (Picture book. 5-9)