BooksforTopics Reading for Pleasure Recommendations
Book Title: The Dreamer (available here)
Author/Illustrator: Il Sung Na
Publisher: Chronicle
Publication Date: September 2018
Most Suitable For: Reception to Year 6
Reviewed By: Lauren Haines, Y6 Teacher and English Subject Lead
The Dreamer is a beautiful picture book about resilience and perseverance that could be used within any aged primary classroom. The story focuses on a pig that is fascinated by birds and dreams of one day being able to fly with them in the sky. Pig has many ideas of how he could fly with the birds but he keeps failing! Despite his failures he never gives up on his dream and with the help of his friends he might just achieve it.
Il Sung Na’s illustrations are beautiful – rendered in ink and colour pencil and then later composited digitally. With only a few words on each page, the pictures are integral to the story telling.
This book has strong themes of resilience, perseverance and collaboration – skills that I know primary school teachers are trying to cultivate in their pupils. The story is flooded with opportunities to discuss how the characters are demonstrating these skills, predicting what the pupils think might happen next as well as putting themselves in Pig’s shoes and reflecting on when they have been in similar situations.
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You can order The Dreamer online or from your local bookshop or library.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to Lauren for reviewing it.
