IF THERE WERE DREAMS TO SELL

by Barbara Lalicki ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1984

Intended as a showcase for Margot Tomes' talents, this has the unfortunate effect of demonstrating her limitations--while accomplishing nothing in any other direction. For each letter of the alphabet, Lalicki has selected a few lines of verse--or something. D brings ""Dreams,"" and the title verse--""If there were dreams to sell/What would you buy?"" G is represented by the three words ""Ghosts Goblins Gremlins""; Y is ""Yesternight,"" as in ""Yesternight the sun went hence,/And yet is here today""; Z, facing, is ""Zephyrs,""--as in ""And on the balmy zephyrs tranquil rest/The silver clouds."" These various, more-or-less-airy snatches, meant to stimulate young imaginations, are largely meaningless in themselves (Mother Goose and ""The Village Blacksmith"" apart). And, most decisively, the illustration tends to be literal: ""Dreams,"" for instance, shows a top-hatted, frock-coated man with a bag labeled ""for Sale,"" and two children looking on from a half-timbered house. When Tomes has had stories to tell, she's projected them with humor and verve; illustrating tenuous notions, the pictures are mainly quaint costumes and stage-sets in somber, earth-tone colorings.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1984

Categories: CHILDREN'S