Peter's Patchwork Dream

Dutch artist Min's (The Birdman) puckish paintings play a fanciful riff on a sick boy's daydream in this winsome picture book. Confined to his bed for the day, Peter quickly grows bored until the ""bright patchwork fields"" of his quilt beckon him to come exploring. Soon he imagines himself wandering through apple orchards and berry gardens, picking fruit and flowers, playing with birds and bunnies and floating on the sea in a basket. Crisply squared and stitched corners of a quilt block lingering on the edge of each spread entice Peter on to his next diversion and link readers to the ""real"" world. Min's gentle blend of fantasy and reality is played out with dappled brushwork and soft, dreamy colors--rosy peaches, moss greens, French blue--giving the illustrations the texture of brushed flannel. In a neatly tied-up finish, a cheerful band of Peter's friends comes to visit, bearing the very things he has imagined: fruit and flowers, rabbits and doves. If the imaginative artwork needs no translation, it's possible the text fares better in its original Dutch, as here it is top-heavy with exclamation points--a minor flaw that detracts only slightly from the overall effect. Ages 1-6. (Feb.)