A Hatful of Dreams

On a block of houses left by their people during hard times, then additionally abandoned by the sun, moon, and stars, the Andersons’ home still glows. In scraggly inkwork that meets soft wash, Graham (The Concrete Garden) portrays a boisterous moment: Dad, rendered with brown skin, crawls on all fours as “a beast of burden,” with three kids and a pup piled on his back. But the family’s enigmatic center is the children’s pale-skinned maternal grandfather, introduced sitting with one leg slung over an overstuffed chair and playing his guitar. Adored by his grandchildren, Grandad is laconic and mysterious—just what does he mean when he says he keeps all kinds of things in his battered fedora, including “stars just waiting to see the light of day”? But one night, he lifts his hat, and a galaxy’s worth of stars actually do pour out in an awesome spectacle that magically revitalizes the block. Though Grandad’s brand of magic, and the cosmic neighborhood transformation, feel conceptually murky (Could the man at any time have helped his neighbors?), the work conveys how one person’s creative spirit can breathe life into forgotten places. Ages 4–8. (Nov.)