cover image The Morgans' Dream

The Morgans' Dream

Marilyn Singer. Henry Holt & Company, $15.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-3004-4

``Suppertime they fill/ the room to bursting/ all the Morgans,'' but at night, the 13 members of this extended family ``say good night and grow still/ to drift or run/ to swim or fly/ to Dreamland.'' In separate poems, Singer (Please Don't Squeeze Your Boa, Noah!) imaginatively and thoughtfully invents dreams for each of the Morgans. Timothy dreams of pizzas and ``woozy cupcakes'' while preverbal baby Kevin shapes ``familiar pictures/while he sleeps-/a fondle of flannel/a keep safe of crib.'' Many of the dreams are familiar (e.g., Catherine finds herself in underwear in front of her classmates). Singer's sensitive and image-rich poetry outshine newcomer Drake's slightly wooden and static pastel paintings, which face more finely articulated watercolor spot art of the sleeping dreamer in half-moon vignettes above the title of each poem. Disappointingly, the family breakfasting together at the conclusion is portrayed like a group of wax figures still frozen in dream action, despite the fluidity of the verse (``Everyone in the same world/ sometimes alone/ and always/ in some way/ together''). Ages 7-11. (Sept.)