Franklin's Big Dreams

Newcomer Teague debuts with a story about Franklin, a boy whose bedtime is repeatedly interrupted by the arrival of workmen with sheaves of plans, followed by gigantic planes and trains that roar through and quickly disappear (and that look suspiciously like the toys in his room). Franklin is remarkably cool about it all, though he's left lonely after the action dies down. By the time an ocean liner sails through a canal hastily dug through his room, he knows who he'll see on it ("Leaning against the bow rail was a kid whose ears stuck out in a memorable way") and what will happen afterward ("But after a while, he fell asleep and dreamed of seas no one had ever seen"). The next time the workman shows up, Franklin's figured out how the system works, and he's off to the moon. Kulikov (The Eraserheads) lavishes painterly attention on the giant transport, with rows of golden lights and indigo shadows, but leaves plenty of rough edges and scribbled lines, too. It's a cinematically scaled tale engineered for those who wish bedtime offered a little more action. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)