Talk-show host Kloots' first children's book is an imaginative bedtime book about dreams and a tribute to her late husband.A blond, light-skinned mother cuddles at bedtime with her light-skinned child, who has short, curly blond hair. From the toys scattered in the room and the bedding, it's clear this tot loves vehicles of all sorts, so it's not surprising that when mom guides the child to talk about where their dreams will take them, a garbage truck leaps to mind. It's green, just like their toy one, and their father, a man with light skin, brown hair, and some beard scruff, is driving. As the duo go for a ride, suddenly the truck morphs into a plane that they fly through a rainbow and land on a beach, where they make a train that they drive into the ocean and then back home again. The mother mostly narrates this adventure, with the child's brief sound effects, comments, and "I love you, Dada," in a colored font. The text can be a bit stiff, the language workmanlike. Willmore's mixed media, pencil, and digital cartoon illustrations are full of bright colors and imaginative details, though the humans are rather wooden, their mouths wide open on almost every page. The only evidence of the father is in the child's imagination/dreams. (This book was reviewed digitally.)This fails to stand out on the crowded bedtime/dreamland shelf. (Picture book. 2-6)

PreS-Gr 1 —Based on Kloots's own nighttime routine with her son, a blonde, jean-clad mother snuggles her small blond child at bedtime, getting him excited for falling asleep by relating enticing dream scenarios. "In your dreams, anything is possible. In your dreams you can go anywhere. Do everything. See anyone." "Trash truck!" exclaims the boy. Subsequently, the bedroom is replaced with a dreamscape where the boy's dad (apparently not present in real life) appears as the truck driver and takes him for a ride. The truck becomes an airplane flying through ice cream clouds and crashing through a rainbow, then a boxcar train "gliding over the ocean" next to high-fiving dolphins, then returning to the boy's room where he lovingly hugs his father in the dream. Back in the real bedroom, the mom gives her son a final injunction to tell her what he did and who he saw. Willmore's digital, mixed-media illustrations dazzle with colors, their spreads full of energy depicted with many swirls and bursts of confetti. Unfortunately, the unchanging grins of the characters, frozen in some rictus of happiness, undercut the positive tone of the story instead of adding to it. VERDICT Sweet and inspirational, this book will find its target audience, though it's an optional purchase for most collections.—Yelena Voysey