Mad Summer Night's Dream

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Visions of oxymorons dance in a girl's head in this madcap rhyme of nocturnal adventures. Right from its slightly skewed beginning--"One midsummer night in winter/ when snow lay on the ground"--the story turns everything upside-down and inside-out. Flowers sing and birds bloom while two cats face off to fight on a bridge, "staring at each other/ while sitting back to back." Brown's soft-textured, pale-hued watercolors keep the disorientation upbeat, yet casts foreboding shadows over parts of the story. She captures the distinct dreamlike quality of watching oneself from above in images such as, "I went down to the cellar/ to look from an upstairs room"; a dungeon scene shows Escher-like stairs leading downward and downward around a dark pit only to end up at the door, where they begin. And when three stone monkeys of the humorous see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil variety leap to life in order to referee a fight between the two cats, the illustration's gray palette is more edgy than dreamy. Replete with common feelings of falling, climbing and familiar characters in strange situations, this dream sequence will resonate with young readers. Because all ends believably the girl wakes when she falls in the dream and well the two cat opponents from the dream nuzzle together on the bed, children will likely laugh with relief at the conclusion. Ages 3-7. May Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Betty Hicks

Both the text and illustrations in this book capture the crazy, hazy nonsensical world of dreams. The clever verse is filled with oxymorons that will tickle the tongue and tease the brain. While a child sleeps, the reader slips inside her head to share an imaginative dreamscape filled with fighting, tumbling cats, playful monkeys, bright flowers, and dark, wispy cobwebs. Light and motion spill over each double page spread as the young dreamer tiptoes down M.C. Escher-type steps in order to go up, or encounters snow in summer, birds that bloom, and singing flowers. Children will enjoy exploring the details of the pictures while delighting in the contradictions of the text. This short, fun read-aloud will entertain an adult reader as well as a young listener.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-With a traditional playground nonsense rhyme as the text, Brown's hallmark watercolors show a fantastic world in which nothing is as it should be. "One midsummer night in winter,/when snow lay on the ground," a young girl gets out of bed and explores her surroundings, where upstairs rooms are in the cellar, the sun is shining brightly, and birds bloom and flowers sing. Off in the distance, two cats prepare to fight, and a blind stone monkey (part of a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil trio) volunteers to referee. When the girl awakens in the morning, hints of her nighttime adventure can be found in the contents of her room (e.g., a statue of the monkeys and two cats curled up on her bed). Double-page spreads and rhyming text make this an ideal read-aloud. The obvious contradictions encourage a discussion of logic versus the absurd. Though based on a slight premise, this is an enjoyable, well-illustrated frolic that will delight and involve children.-Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Brown (Toad, 1997, etc.) delves into a visual and verbal world of M.C. Escher proportions. In rhyming verse a young girl recounts her peculiar experiences occurring "one midsummer night in winter," weaving a tale of singing flowers, blooming birds, and a feline spat ineptly arbitrated by the classic trio of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil monkeys. Brown's verse, overflowing with oxymorons, challenges readers to be especially attentive to the text in order to catch the puns in the lines: "Quite clearly in the distance,/but almost out of sight,/two fat cats were yowling,/preparing for the fight." Her elaborate, full-page illustrations also demand in-depth perusal. Fantastical landscapes with unusual creatures fill the pages; there are plenty of minute details to delight observant readers. With the extravagant improbabilities of the rhymes to entertain the younger set and intricate word games to engage older readers, Brown's homage to the absurd has wide appeal. (Picture book. 3-7)