Dreams paint their images on the canvas of sleep in this collection of 15 poems by Janet S. Wong. The poems often reveal the hopes, fears, and desires of waking life even as they describe the improbable or impossible events that occur in the world of dreams (the sudden ability to speak fluent French, the seemingly endless sense of falling, or the appearance of a forgotten friend or a loved one who has died). The overall tone of the collection is lighthearted, but it does not overlook the reality of bad dreams. Julie Paschkis’s gouache illustrations span each two-page spread. Using a rich palette, she weaves elements from the individual poems into fanciful artworks that express the other-worldliness of dreaming. (Ages 8-11)

,.".dreams grow wild

Like dandelion weeds,

feathery heads alive with seeds --

and those fine seeds,

about to sprout,

race the day

to find their place

in a welcome mind..."

And the dreams grow in an endless variety, same familiar things, some strange and beautiful, some on the darker side.

In this collection, Janet S. Wong, a widely known poet, records some of the many dreams she or her friends have had. She even watches her old dog while he twitches and growls and dreams in his sleep and finally yelps awake.

Illustrated by Julie Paschkis with paintings that reflect the glowing colors that can fill our dreams, these nighttime vicions create a special garden, tempting to explore and evocative of dreams of our very own.