Customer Reviews

Dreamcatcher

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a story of a day in the life of the Ojibway Indians of the Great Lakes. The story is based on the baby of the tribe, whoses sister weaves a dreamcatcher. A dreamcatcher is a net, which is used to catch bad dreams, holding on to them until sunrise when they will be destroyed. This net was made for the Ojibway baby who watches its family through the day as they work and play, lulled into a restful slumber by the dreamatcher.

This is a wonderful story of how this tribe treasured their good dreams as a source of wisdom. It is very captivating for young readers to relate to dreams in this manner, also comparing the games that the children of this culture play. This poetic text uses a rhythm to keep the young reader interested. The beautiful pastel illustrations are used in an impressionistic way to keep the reader in that dream-like feelng.

On the Ojibwa Islands of the Great Lakes many people wove nets to protect their babies from harmful dreams. They would weave a dream net on a willow hoop. It would look just like a spider web but the net would be woven of twine. Then they stained it red with the juice from the berries. They believed that this would catch the bad dreams like almost like a spider web catches flies. Then the good dreams would drift through the hole in the center of the dream catcher. The parents always told the children to try to dream and try to remember what they dream. They did this because the believed that every dream had a meaning. If you had a bad dream it was though that something bad was going to happen to you or your family. If you had a good dream it was thought that something good was going to happen. I didn't really enjoy this book because it didn't really grab my attention. It had a good story and legend behind it but the way they explained it didn't interest me. I would recommend this book though if you want to find out the meaning behind a dream catcher. ~ Katelyn Carson

The best multicultural books use a new culture to illuminate familiar and universal themes. This lovely picture book does exactly that, showing gentle family scenes from an Ojibway Indian baby's perspective. The beautiful illustrations in this book radiate warmth and joy. I'd particularly recommend it for young children with a new sibling--the relationship between baby and big sister is especially touching.

My mom showed me this book when I was 5. When I was a baby somebody gave my mom a dreamcatcher and this book to protect me. My mom was reading a book about the Ojibway and we went to see a birchbark house and cradle board at our nature center. After that she said I bet you are old enough now to read about the dreamcatcher you have.

This is a good story. I'm glad somebody decided to help protect me when I sleep.

Books that introduce children to new cultures are always welcome. Dreamcatcher does a lovely job of presenting information about the Ojibway way of life. Readers will learn new and interesting facts about them, and will also see some universal similarities. The soft, dreamy illustrations complement the subject matter beautifully. Teachers, this is a great jumping-off point for units on native cultures.

This book is really quite inappropriate for small children. My son watches no TV and has never been exposed to "scary" things, so no nightmares, problems with the dark, etc. After we read this book he started asking for duck bones to chew on, began calling the curtains and large birds "big Boo's.". I should have read through the book before sharing it with him. Quite disturbing that someone wrote this for small children to read before bedtime.