Dream Away

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAY 9, 2011

First-timer Goldstrom's richly imagined paintings of flight among the stars enhance this fanciful lullaby from Durango (Go-Go-Gorillas) and newcomer Trupiano. "Dream away, dream away, sleepyhead, love./ Set sail for the ocean of stars up above," they write, as a boy falls asleep while his father reads; he dreams of sailing off into the sky with a crew of pets and fairy tale creatures. They float through the solar system and beyond, encountering a great bear who throws a comet like a baseball, a dragon who waves goodbye, and other creatures of the zodiac, each translucent, gauzy, and lit with a chilly stellar glow. Full spreads have genuine grandeur, while round spot illustrations echo the shapes of planets and galaxies. In one spread, the boat on the right-hand page tows the moon-as-balloon at left, the line taut between them; in Goldstrom's hands, the scene looks pleasingly believable. While Durango and Trupiano's words sometimes seem shoehorned into the meter ("In a dream we did float on an old paper boat"), they contribute a rocking rhythm to this nautically themed tale. Ages 4 8.