From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2 One ordinary night, during his bedtime routine, Franklin gets a huge surprise: a construction crew comes crashing through the wall of his room. A foreman informs the surprised boy that he should be asleep, then continues with his work, laying tracks. While Franklin watches from the safety of his bed, a train comes whistling through, carrying some familiar faces. After it trundles away, the crew breaks up the track, leaving Franklin to a dream of rushing along train tracks through a moonlit forest. A week later, the same thing happens, only this time with a plane and later, a huge cruise ship. With each episode, Franklin spots a recognizable face onboard the vehicle, then has a dream of traveling to fantastic lands on wings or ocean waves. The next time his wall is breached, he finally catches on. He dictates where he would like to go in this dream sequence: a big round moon peeking through his window gives his destination away. While this is an interesting concept, it takes several readings to understand exactly what is going on in the bedroom. The illustrations, however, are quite beautiful, and the cool palette and soft lines add to the dreamy feel of the story. Each spread is more magnificent then the next, helping to build to the out-of-this-world conclusion.
Jasmine L. Precopio, Fox Chapel Area School District, Pittsburgh, PA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
*Starred Review* In this fantastical debut, Teague imagines how dreams are made from the point of view of a young boy and his dog. Night after night, construction crews break into Franklin's bedroom to build train tracks, a runway, and a canal; they're all deconstructed before the break of day after some massive conveyance has rolled through Franklin's room, eerily carrying people he knows, including one little boy who looks rather familiar. “Nobody knows how this works!” the construction worker admits—and we don't need to know, either. It's the mystery that makes this so imaginative and fresh. Kulikov's dramatic paintings feature a chiaroscuro effect; Franklin's nighttime room is portrayed in navy blues and subdued colors, while warm yellow light pours from the towering forms of the train, jet, and boat. Alert readers will notice the parallel little dog that appears in the dreams, just as, of course, the little boy who looks familiar turns out to be Franklin himself. The randomness of the folks who people Franklin's dreams—the mailman, the checkout lady from the supermarket, and his uncle Marty, for instance—evokes exactly the arbitrary whimsy of dreams. Preschool-Grade 1. --Diane Foote
