How To Catch A Dream

A boy seeks his dream in Dahlia’s illustrated children’s book.

In a village named Sparkling lives a little boy named Neem. He was born in this magical place, which is illuminated by dreams themselves rather than sunlight. Neem and his three goose friends spend their days in the beautiful woods near Sparkling, but the fowl all have something that Neem doesn’t—they’ve found their dreams. It seems like everyone else has found their small guiding light that accompanies them everywhere, making house windows glow invitingly at night. Neem decides to set off to find his dream and encounters a girl named Pla, whose dream is to help plants grow everywhere. Neem meets other friends like Vicky (who tends fish), an old woman who cleans the end of the rainbow, and an apothecary for sick and ailing animals. They all have lovely dreams, but none of them are for Neem. Neem walks until he comes across a hot air balloon and climbs aboard to meet an elderly man, learning how the man oversees turning the sky from day to night and back again. The man explains to Neem that while dreams can be simple or sometimes even monotonous, they fit into the larger cycle of the universe in which each individual person is necessary and unique. (“Once you see the value in what you do, there’s nothing to complain about.”) Neem returns home to process this journey and figure out what his dream inspiration will finally be. The book includes an illustrated map of Neem’s Dreamland and several activities about dream cultivation. These are intriguing resources, but they lack the structure to make them easily actionable and they don’t quite feel meaningfully related to the story. The author takes care to introduce Neem to multiple characters, but there is little internal character development until the end of the story. Ran’s illustrations are tenderly drawn and help to immerse the reader in this fantasy tale.

A simple, whimsically illustrated story about finding one’s purpose.