The Dreamer

The luminous, instantly recognizable paintings of Barry Moser illustrate a work that follows a painter as he dreams of earth, trees, sky, and animals and then awakens to create them.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-"There once was a young artist who lived all alone, quietly, and who spent his days as most young artists do: daydreaming." What follows is a sentimental and personal vision of the Biblical Creation story. Rylant chooses her words carefully, and the text has a certain ineffable quality, but not the transcendent power of James Weldon Johnson's emotional poem, The Creation (Little, 1993), or the heroic simplicity of Leonard Everett Fisher's David and Goliath (Holiday, 1993). However, The Dreamer is a handsome, well-designed book. From the title page, sprinkled with stars, to the parchment-colored endpapers, it has a clear, open, almost pristine look that suits the text. Moser's signature watercolors include some evocative images. All that readers see is the creator's hands-cutting out stars, extending the globe of the world against the heavens, drawing with a pen. Readers are looking over the artist's shoulder, or by extension, are doing the creating themselves. The story is heartfelt, but it lacks the complexity of thought found in Rylant's novels, or even in her easy-to-read "Henry and Mudge" series (Bradbury). For libraries looking for another interpretation of the Creation story, this is a visually attractive choice, but not a first purchase.
Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The inspired re-pairing of Rylant and Moser, whose previous collaborative effort yielded the evocative and deeply personal Appalachia , proves that the talented author and artist share more than geography. This time around they offer a fanciful yet reverent interpretation of Genesis. Imagining God as a "young artist who lived all alone, quietly, and who spent his days as most young artists do: daydreaming," Newbery Medalist Rylant ( Missing May ) endows the story with both compassion and caprice. Deciding to "make what he saw in his mind," the artist fashions a star, followed by heavens, then earth, etc., and finally, "a new artist in his own image. Shyly pleased with himself, he made another one. He loved the company. He made one more." Moser's design alternates stark white pages showing life-size watercolor illustrations of a pair of hands (crafting stars with scissors, sketching the human form with a fountain pen) with color-drenched panoramas of the artist's "creations." That the creator's hands are Caucasian may be inappropriate; however, a spread of the artist's "children" depicts them as a multi-ethnic assembly. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An all-star rendition of the creation makes an appropriate entry for the Blue Sky imprint's inaugural list. Rylant brings the Creator down to earth in a conversational, unassuming narrative, depicting him as a shy young artist who dreams, tests new ideas, and makes other ``artist[s] in his own image'' in order to have someone to share the pleasure in his works. He ``has always called them his children. And they, in turn, have always called him God,'' the author concludes, finally equating the artist with the deity. Moser's elegantly simple compositions reflect the straightforward tone and sense of a primeval beauty within the everyday world; he shows the stars being clipped out with scissors held in sturdy hands, while the artist also appears as a misty figure beneath the dramatic silhouette of an aging pine, imagining the animal kingdom yet to come. An attractively developed concept, nondoctrinal yet reverent, that would be interesting to compare to Eric Carle's Draw Me a Star (1992). (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4-8. Rylant and Moser combine their talents, and the sum is more than their considerable parts. Rylant casts her own creation story, starting with a young artist who lives alone and spends his days as artists do, daydreaming. But then, as artists also do, he decides to make what he sees in his mind. First, he cuts out a star. So delighted is he with the results that he keeps making stars until he is surrounded by the heavens. Then his imagination shows him the earth and the sea and the animals. He feels such love for his creation, such an explosion of joy, that he wants to tell someone, someone who is an artist as well. So he draws another artist, and soon the world fills up with artists. "The first young artist, still a dreamer, has always called them his children. And they, in turn, have always called him God." Rylant's text, exceptionally moving in places, can also border on the sweet, but when that happens, Moser is always there with his incredible art to lift the words to a higher level. Along with handsome, expected vistas, there are also unexpected scenes: the artist (only his hands are seen) cutting out stars, or the family-of-man portrait, with every person unique. This book is a reminder that the oldest stories can always be refashioned in new ways to touch the heart. Ilene Cooper