Dream
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
With new life comes infinite possibility in this companion to Wish and Hope, by Caldecott Award-winner Matthew Cordell.
In this stunning picture book, a gorilla family celebrates their young child by dreaming of everything their baby will encounter, who he will be, and what dreams he will eventually have. The simple but touching story perfectly expresses the emotions that parents often find difficult to put into words.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As in Cordell's Wish, a pair of animals celebrates the arrival of a child. Two gorillas lean over their new baby's crib; a small arm stretches up out of it. With simple, heartfelt words, the narrator confronts the joy and terror that parenthood brings: "We looked upon you, impossible you, and we felt everything. Who would you be?" An extended dream sequence expresses the child's growing up as the journey of an artist. The child carries a paintbrush everywhere, and as the story progresses, some of the spreads, painted in a rougher, looser style, are meant to represent the child's increasingly accomplished work. "I saw a new you," the gorilla parent says. "Taller. Wiser. Stronger. Strong in body... strong in soul." Animal characters provide a way for illustrators to include all readers, yet using gorillas to represent humans and housing them in a round, thatched hut has uncomfortable echoes. There's no mistaking the text's goodwill, though; Cordell voices the hopes of families with disarming honesty, finding words for feelings that parents can't always articulate. Ages 3 5.
