Review: Happy Dreamer

While the world tells us to sit still, to follow the rules, and to color inside the lines, Happy Dreamer celebrates all those moments in between when the mind and spirit soar and we are free to become our own true dreamer maximus! In Peter’s signature voice and style, this empowering picture book reminds children of how much their dreams matter, and while life will have ups and downs, he enlists readers to stay true to who they are, to tap into their most creative inner selves, and to never ever forget to dream big!

Dreamers come in all shapes and sizes. Noisy dreamers tap along to the jazz that plays in their mind. Quiet dreamers watch for shapes in the passing clouds. Loud dreamers shout it all out, while colourful dreamers fill the word with colour.

Dreamers want to break free, follow their spirits, and live their dreams. Sometimes being a dreamer can mean going against the grain, and the world doesn’t always embrace free thinkers. Sometimes dreamers are forced into boxes, or told to “fit in”. Still, dreamers know that they can always break free and land on their feet, no matter what the rest of the world might think.

Happy Dreamer is the latest addition to the “be yourself!” collection of books for young children, and might not be particularly groundbreaking, but I do appreciate the way that Happy Dreamer celebrates all different kinds of dreamers, whether they’re busy or still, quiet or loud, or anything in between. We can all be happy dreamers, in all our different ways! I also always welcome stories that encourage creativity and creative expression – with all the cuts to arts education in schools over the past few years, it’s important that children still be encouraged to express themselves creatively, and to find value in creativity.

A big thank you to Michelle at Fab Book Reviews for sending along an extra copy of Happy Dreamer to me – what a kind, very Canadian thing to do!

HAPPY DREAMER

Hardcover, 32 pages
March 28, 2017 : Orchard Books
Source: Fab Book Reviews