*Review* In Your Dreams by Pamela Green

Genre: Children's 0-5 years

Published: May 9, 2023

Pages: 32

“The adventurous spirit of In Your Dreams captures Boys & Girls Clubs’ legacy of inspiring young people worldwide to dream big and create brighter futures for themselves and us all.”—Boys & Girls Clubs of America 

As a mother holds her sleeping baby, she ponders the dreams dancing through his head.  

Has he traveled back in time to play with the dinosaurs? Is he climbing tall mountains among the clouds? Is he watching dolphins frolic in the sea, or visiting new friends in faraway places? 

Told in gentle rhymes with whimsical illustrations to spark the imaginations of children of all ages, this sweet and timeless book is a story of curiosity, possibility, and, above all, the wonder of love. 

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a story about a woman imagining what her newborn baby dreams about when he sleeps. And that really annoyed me because a baby wouldn't dream about much that is exciting as they have no life experiences to inform their dreams yet. And logical me understands that it's supposed to be fun and whimsical, but the me that was absolutely fascinated by dreams and their meanings for a solid three months in high school just couldn't see it that way. And I could have accepted the entire thing if the child was a toddler. A kid who has watched some tv and had books read to him would absolutely have the capacity to dream all these things, but not an infant. 

The illustrations were soft and definitely dreamlike. They really did sell the dream scenario for me, and that might be part of why I was so annoyed to get to the end of the book and find out it was about a baby, because in the dreams, the child is older. I would not want to read this book more than once because it really did annoy me, but I'm fairly certain I'm an anomaly on that one. Overall I give this book 2.31 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

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Pamela Green has her Master’s in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. She is the Community Programs Coordinator at San Francisco Ballet, bringing dance and music into SFUSD public schools and afterschool programs with Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco and the YMCA. She hosts family workshops and sensory friendly programming for the special needs community, provides professional development for educators, and coordinates local arts community events. She has been an elementary educator since 2008. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wonderful son and enjoys hiking, cooking, reading historical fiction, traveling, fly-fishing, animals, photography, and ballet.

Cheryl Crouthamel has been a children’s book illustrator since 2004 when she retired from the New York Police Department. She specializes in whimsical illustrations—and wrangling her three kids. She lives in New Jersey.