What do Ducks Dream?

WHAT DO DUCKS DREAM?
Harriet Ziefert. Illustrated by Donald Saaf
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001
Hardcover, 40 pages, $15.95
Reading level: Ages 4-8
ISBN: 0-399-23358-X

Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg

“On Sigmund’s farm they all are sleeping;
“Into night the dreams come creeping.”

So begins Harriet Ziefert’s fanciful exploration for children of a few lines in Sigmund Freud’s 1899 work, The Interpretation of Dreams. As Freud relates, his youngest daughter, Anna, had vomited one morning and had not been permitted to eat for the rest of the day. “During the night after this day of starvation,” he reports, “she was heard calling out excitedly in her sleep: ‘Anna Fweud, stwawbewwies, wild stwawbewwies, omblet, pudden!’

“At that time she was in the habit of using her own name to express the idea of taking possession of something,” Freud continues. “The menu included pretty well everything that must have seemed to her to make up a desirable meal.”

It was a surfeit of strawberries, moreover, that Anna’s nurse had blamed for the child’s upset stomach (Ch. 3).

Later Freud writes that he does not know what animals dream of. He cites a proverb that asks the question: "What does the goose dream of?" and answers: "Of maize." “The whole theory that the dream is the fulfillment of a wish,” he asserts, “is contained in these two sentences.”

In Zeifert’s hands, animals have a rich fantasy life.

“The cows all dream of heaps of hay
“And fields of boats for floating away.
“On seas as wide as they can be,
“Horses dream of galloping free.”

Not all animals on Sigmund’s farm sleep at night. The barn owl, fox, and snake actively pursue their favorite foods, and their choices are not sugar-coated. The fox steals chicks, the snake, eggs, and the owl swoops down, eyes glinting, on a mouse.

In the farmhouse, children and parents snuggle beneath comforters, the dog curls up on the floor, and the cat nestles into an overstuffed chair. Anna dreams of a full bowl of strawberries. Above her, strawberries float on whipped cream clouds, while some of her sisters and brothers soar through the star-sprinkled sky.

Donald Saaf’s richly textured paintings enhance the text, providing a visual fantasy feast. What if a rooster blew a horn instead of crowing? Could a goat really climb a tree to nibble those delicious apples? Could a duck ride a bike?

Zeifert is the author of more than 90 children’s books, including the delightful Clara Ann Cookie, Go to Bed! Her last lines provide a perfect send-off to sleep.

“A sweet dream is a wish from you.
“If you’re lucky, it may come true.”