In my dreams I can ride the wildest winds.
A small boy shuts his eyes and the world comes alive. New possibilities open up. Running with lions, tasting rainbows and marshmallow clouds, and diving deep under the ocean. Our minds are extraordinary places and they allow us to experience the world in a way which is at once impossible and more real than our physical, lived experiences.
The book is like a stream of consciousness as the boy runs through different dreams. Jewel bright illustrations make the imaginative, the fantastical even more extraordinary in their beauty as the words note the different sensory experiences and emotions evoked by the dreams.
This is the perfect narrative to share ahead of bedtime, and it would also be a wonderful book to use ahead of a creative writing session or really ahead of any art activity. It empowers readers to draw upon what is already in their minds and to turn those things into something exciting. To ask ‘what if’ and run with it.
There is so much play in this book – even the shape of the words shifts and changes as if in tune with the shifting nature of dreams. The illustrations play with the reader too – if you look carefully at the image of the boy sleeping in bed you might notice that the toys and objects around his bedroom hint at the dreams to come. This wonderful touch invites conversation about what imagination is and where ideas come from. Those words suggest something ethereal, something some people have and others don’t, when actually we all have source material in our minds.
The illustrations are so beautiful that they seem to shine.
A celebration of dreams and imagination and the adventures they make possible. Perfect for bedtime and for creative sessions.
- In my Dreams by Stef Gemmill and Tanja Stephani is available now, RRP £11.99, from New Frontier Publishing.
