The Dream Jar

December 1, 2005
PreS-Gr 3 -Children who have had bad dreams (or parents who have struggled to explain them away) will find solace and a solution in this story. A girl describes how, after a cuddly bedtime ritual with Mom, she and her sister drift off to sleep. When she has visions of scary sea monsters, her older, wiser, and very patient sibling decides that it's time to relay -The Secret - that their mother had shared with her under similar circumstances: one has the power to reinvent one's dreams. Scary turns to silly and all is well until the older girl is invited to a sleepover and the narrator is frightened at the prospect of spending a night alone. Big sister comes through once again: she leaves a -Dream Jar - covered in blue paper and glow-in-the-dark stars and filled with ideas guaranteed to transform any nightmare. The predominantly blue palette is rendered in pencil and acrylic and manipulated in Photoshop. The text surrounding the nymphlike duo is occasionally hand lettered and/or appears in color. The overall design, including sketchy thought bubbles, irregularly shaped panels, and dynamic spreads, exudes the vitality, energy, and whimsy of a creative and sensitive family. A refreshing departure from the usual nocturnal sibling shenanigans and parental platitudes, this tale is perfect for bedtime, storytime, or anytime. Pair it with Jane Kurtz's "In the Small, Small Night" (Greenwillow, 2005) for a look at sisterly love." -Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2005
PreS-Gr. 2. This delightful, fresh approach to helping children cope with bad dreams will be welcomed by parents and kids alike. Two sisters share a bedroom, and when the younger one has bad dreams, the older one tells her a secret: imagine that those scary monsters in your dream are really silly monsters. It works, and nighttimes are fine until Big Sister is invited to a sleepover. To alleviate the younger girl's fears, the older sister leaves a Dream Jar filled with tiny rolls of paper. When a bad dream starts, the child opens one of the Dreamy Dream scrolls and finds a message that helps change her nightmare into a "fabulously fun dreamy dream." The pencil, acrylic, and computer-enhanced illustrations give the story its zing. The whimsical, wispy pictures generate fun, while the first-person text, set down in a variety of playful typefaces, underscores the sibling relationship: "Now I can sleep, my sister saved me." For a different take on the subject, see Waechter's " Rosie and the Nightmares" (p.57) and Durango's " Dream Hop" (p.53). (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2006
A girl prone to bad dreams fears that the trick her sister taught her to squelch them won't work the night the sister is away on a sleepover. Johnson and Curmi are so preoccupied with creating a mystical atmosphere (the girls aren't named; select words appear in colorful and/or different font; the mixed-media art teems with stars) that the story suffers.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)