I Dreamt: A Book About Hope
By Gabriela Olmos • Various Illustrators
Translated by Elisa Amado
Groundwood Books • 2012 • 36 pages
Hardcover ($18.95)
ISBN: 978-1-55498-330-8
Ages 5-8
There is much violence around the world, and unfortunately, children are often right in the center of it. This book is about dreams, specifically the dream to have a violence-free world for each child.
Originally published in Mexico, a country that has seen unprecedented violence against police and citizens alike in the last decade due to the drug trade, this book highlights what it sees as being wrong with the world and how we can make it better. Each page conveys a simple dream, such as: I dreamt that wars are always fought with flowers. and I dreamt of pistols that shoot butterflies. Accompanying each thought is an original illustration by a well-known contemporary Mexican artist.
Read Related: Teaching Kids About Peace in a Violent World
Although at times sad, this book’s ultimately uplifting series of dreams may help explain to a young child that although there are bad things that happen in the world, they are often outweighed by the good.
—Reviewed by Beth Rotella, Teacher, NY
