The Dreamer

Magical. If I only had one word to describe Pam Muñoz Ryan's book, The Dreamer, that was illustrated by Peter Sís, it would be magical. Recently one my practicum students borrowed my Pam Muñoz Ryan books because she was choosing her for an author study, and I told her that while I did not have all of her picture books, I had all of her novels. Yet, I wanted to double check on Amazon, just to be sure. Imagine my delight when I saw that one of my all time favorite authors had another book out, published just this year, and to top it all, it was a fictionalized biography about Pablo Neruda's childhood.

Based on Muñoz Ryan's keen interest into Neruda and his life, which led to in-depth research, the novel is a gem. The book jacket explains it well when it says, "Combining elements of magical realism with biography, poetry, literary fiction, and sensorial, transporting illustrations, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís take readers on a rare journey of the heart and imagination." When I received the book in the mail, after skimming the pages, I instantly emailed the local university professor who teachers the children's lit class, letting her know this was going to be a great one. 

As I settled in to read, I could not help to think of Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Although nothing could be quite like Selznick's one-of-a-kind book, this book was unique in its own right. I could not wait to see what would be waiting for me as I flipped the page - a poem, a picture, a question, text. When I got to the end of the book I noticed in the acknowledgments that Ryan wrote, "to Brian Selznick, for his patient ear and thoughtful comments," which I thought was an interesting layer since I had thought of Selznick while reading The Dreamer. 

Fittingly, the book was lyrical, telling the trials and triumphs of Neruda's life and his complicated family composition. There was bits of Spanish appropriately mixed in to give some flavor to the book, but not too much that it would be hard for English speakers to get what was going on. Another added touch was that the ink was in green, which was pleasing to the eye to read, but had a bigger significance than I had realized. When I got to the end of the book where Muñoz Ryan explained a bit more about where she got the idea for the project and more about Neruda, she mentioned that he wrote in green ink because he thought it was the color of hope. 

I love this book on so many different levels and can see how it could lead to rich discussions in the classroom. What will Muñoz Ryan come up with next? Whatever it is, I will be ready and waiting to read her next masterpiece.