Tell Me What to Dream About

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 7, 2015

Review

A sweet picture book that taps into the age-old question, "what should I dream about?" A younger sister asks this of her older sister because if she doesn't have things to think about, she won't fall asleep. The older sister does an admirable job coming up with wonderful, fantastical, but not too crazy, things to dream about. Of course, the younger sister has a problem with each scenario, forcing the older sister to try again (the scenes that the younger sister finds too scary are pretty mild). At last, quite tired and unable to think of any other suitable dreams, the older sister suggests they dream about making waffles together in the morning. This does the trick and both girls drift off. The artwork is reminiscent of 1940s or 1950s with one particularly fun spread set in a treehouse town where beehives and bouffants dominate. The story is gentle and lovingly rendered and the concluding waffle solution caused a sigh of happiness from my young audience. A nice read-aloud, an attractive cover, and a familiar theme make this book a nice purchase for any library.

Overall Book Score: very good