MATTHEW'S DREAM

A classic Lionni mouse (torn paper, pink ears) visits a museum, dreams about entering the marvelous, varied paintings, and realizes that his destiny is to be an artist. The originality here is in the illustrations, where Lionni deliciously conveys the flavor of several other artists' styles ("One [painting] looked like crusts of pastry, but when he looked more carefully, a mouse emerged") without compromising the unity of his own. An attractive reiteration of an important theme.