Customer Reviews

I Wish Tonight

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"I Wish Tonight" is a beautifully written and illustrated book. The rhythmic verse is uplifting and inspirational with drawings depicting people of all races living together in harmony. And there is a great message... "We'll tell then that nothing can be bought or sold: In the land that I wish for no one will need gold..." -And my favorite- "...And let's make a great plan: that together we'll mend Anything that is broken, and carefully tend Everything in the world, keep it safe to the end... Soon, no one will know where the wastelands have been: The trees will grow tall and the deserts turn green, The air will blow clear and the rain will fall clean, And in shimmering streams silver fish will be seen"

Some (like my husband :)might think that it's too utopian and unreal...but I think that children ought to start out this way!! And hopefully never lose sight of our potential. How sad would it be for a four-year-old to see the world through cynical and jaded eyes? If you want a more grounded message with a storyline in the same spirit of open-minded acceptance, another great book is "Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon" (and you don't need to be vegetarian to appreciate it!!)

This book is an absolute treasure. I bought two copies of "I Wish Tonight". One for my son to look at now while he is still ripping books (he's only 16 months) and one to preserve for when he's older. It's that good!!

I looked in the children's section of bookstores looking for a book for my 3-year-old niece for upwards of 10 hours at Christmas time. I was beginning to despair that a book like this existed. I worry that my brother and his wife are not providing the kind of globally-oriented, socially responsible education for their kids that I would hope. So I wanted a book that achieved that, and that was short enough and colorful enough to keep a 3-year-old's attention, but not so in-your-face about its message of diversity and multiculturalism that my gift seemed like a critique of their parenting or politics. Also, I felt that many of the books I found that were designed to celebrate either minority cultures in the U.S. (African American, Mexican American, etc.) or cultures around the world would frankly seem too foreign for this little white suburban girl to recognize as relating to her life in any way at this point.

Finally--FINALLY!--I found a copy of this book in the used section of the book store and I knew I had found the one (with a bonus in satisfaction for recycling). It features a young black boy laying down for bed, dreaming of a world where everyone has all that they need, people share with one another freely, and violence is unknown. The people in his dream are of every color and shape, and this is simply taken as a given. The goodness of the things the boy dreams of is, I think, indisputable, but at the same time, it delivers a very progressive message of unity and tolerance. This is how I want my nieces and nephews to begin their lives understanding about what's possible in their world.

I intend to give this book to every parent of young children I know. It's fantastic!