If You Please, President Lincoln

This story of a boy's imaginative adventures in his own room invites an unflattering comparison with Where the Wild Things Are. Frej and his baby-sitter ``sail in a red coffee cup over an ocean of underwear to an island full of paintbrush trees.'' There, in a Queendom ruled by an anthropomorphized feather duster, a limp adventure ensues as the Beast (a dog) attacks the Queen, and Frej ``tame[s] the monster with fearless love''-that is, he scratches behind the Beast's ears. Frej's parents return and, blind to the world created by their son, see only the lad and his sitter-``a woman who has strong arms, red hair and lipstick on her teeth.'' In Wild Things, Max's imagination served to channel his anger and teach him the value of rules and self-control; it also made for a great read. But this work seems more like an adult take on children's imaginations than a fantasy with its own internal logic. With their stylized animals and prancing objects, Olofsdotter's bright, hip gouache and colored-pencil drawings outshine her prose, and assorted typefaces add visual interest, but stylishness cannot save this concept-heavy story. Ages 5-up. (July)