Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Its title notwithstanding, this bland book has little to do with ducks. The web-footed birds figure in only one spread ("Fluffy ducks in their sleepy hours/ Fly their bikes over hills and flowers"), which pictures them riding airborne tricycles and wearing party hats. Other couplets describe the reveries of horses, cows and goats. In an incongruous turn, the volume notes that nocturnal predators are afoot ("The fox thinks stealing chicks is nice;/ the snake likes eggs;/ the owl hunts.../ mice!"). But just as quickly, it returns to placid musings on sleeping children in a farmhouse and ends with the greeting, "Good morning!" Ziefert (previously paired with Saaf for Animal Music) sets the scene on "Sigmund's farm," then alludes to the farmer's identity in an idiosyncratic note about The Interpretation of Dreams: "Freud... cites proverbs that suggest the dreams of animals may be pure wish fulfillment." Saaf provides handsome mixed-media collages of cut photos, straw, wallpaper and paint. He juxtaposes dense patterns and shadowy greens and grays that immobilize rather than free the dream images. Dr. Freud might support the artwork, especially in its vaguely menacing moments, but not trite verse like "A sweet dream is a gift from you./ If you're lucky, it may come true." Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-It's nighttime on Sigmund's farm and all of the animals are sleeping. While cows "-dream of heaps of hay/And fields of boats for floating away," a rooster envisions waking the world with a giant horn, and goats imagine that they can climb trees to graze on fruit. Meanwhile, several nocturnal animals pursue evening activities of a different sort and hunt for food, injecting a vivid, almost breathtaking moment of reality into this parade of whimsical images. In the farmhouse, "The children dream of making noise,/Of big, red berries and birthday toys." As morning draws near, the text explains, "A sweet dream is a wish from you./If you're lucky, it may come true." Done in mixed media and glowing in vibrant hues, the collage artwork provides a lively and luminous interpretation of the delightful text. The use of quilting scraps and patterned materials gives the pictures a folksy flair. Photos of flowers, different grasses, and barn shingles appear unexpectedly and are seamlessly incorporated into the colorful paintings of animals and people. The images perfectly capture the tone of the verses, as smiling ducks wearing party hats glide on tricycles through a perfect blue-green sky and horses gallop across an undulating turquoise sea. An author's note briefly mentions Sigmund Freud and his interpretation of dreams as a form of wish fulfillment. Although Freud may be a bit of a stretch for this age group, children will get that message all on their own from this dream-come-true pairing of text and artwork.-Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
With the exception of the nighttime hunters (owl, fox, and snake), everyone on Sigmund's farm has sweet dreams. Horses dream of galloping on the sea; ducks dream of riding bikes through the sky; children dream of making noise, / Of big, red berries and birthday toys. The collage illustrations have an appropriately surreal quality, but there is a disjointed feel to the rhyming text. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
With a nod to Freud for her inspiration, Ziefert suggests that animals dream just as people do. Of what? On Sigmunds farm, The cows all dream of heaps of hay / And fields of boats for floating away, as Fluffy ducks in their sleepy hours / Fly their bikes over hills and flowers. Though owl, fox, and snake provide potential trauma by being quite wide awake, horses, goats, pigs, pets, and children also dream peacefully away. Saaf combines swatches of cloth, grass, wallpaper, and other materials with drowsy-looking painted figures, alternating rural nighttime scenes with equally real-looking dreamscapes. The verses flow with sleep-inducing smoothness, beneath a succession of (mostly) soothing images in this invitation to sweet dreams. Who would have thought a cat might dream of wearing red high heels? (afterword) (Picture book. 5-7)
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