Daydreaming

Henry is a daydreamer. As he gets ready for school, he imagines that he’s fallen into a box of cereal, made friends with the bear pictured on the box, and frolicked in a land of sugary wonders. It’s the same story at recess: Henry, dressed in cowboy gear, pretends he’s riding a grasshopper into the sky. Then it’s revealed that both he and the bear are actually toys from cereal boxes—playthings for an imaginative girl named Emma Rose. Adults may have to explain to incredulous children that, yes, cereal boxes really did once come with toys inside, but that’s not the most problematic aspect of Tatulli’s (the Desmond Pucket series) first picture book. He puts his experience as a comic strip artist to impressive use, with pages of smartly framed action that needs no narrator or dialogue. But when it’s revealed that the offstage voice hectoring Henry belongs to Emma Rose, and Henry’s expressive face and wiry body freeze into the gaze and pose of a molded toy, the carefree premise suddenly takes on a Twilight Zone creepiness. Ages 3–6. [em]Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Sept.) [/em]