I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic

I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic
Buy I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: A love letter from a mother to her child, packaged up into a lovely, calm, peaceful book to be shared. One to make your babies feel valued.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 36	Date: May 2020
Publisher: Suteki Creative
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1948124508
Share on:

It is always a pleasure to review a new book by Justine Avery and I Dreamed You carries on the tradition beautifully. This little book is the perfect exemplar of our category name, For Sharing. It is a mother's love letter to her child, told in rhyme form.

It begins...

There was a moment,
not long ago,
when I dreamed of you,
and I didn't even know... 

How very much I needed you 
or how much you wanted me. 
You were waiting there, somewhere, 
for the perfect time to be. 

The narrative takes us through how much this mother longed for her daughter and how her life changed for the better once she arrived - how home and landscape took on new meanings and comforts when they could be experienced together - and on to her promise that she will love and support her child as she grows and has hopes and dreams of her own.

It's a lovely, gentle, rhythmic expression of parental love and the joys of being a parent but it's also the perfect way to give a child a sense of security and belonging that will stand it in good stead as it grows up. It's easy to read aloud and long enough to reinforce the message but not so long that it is repetitive.

The illustrations by Ema Tepic complement the text perfectly. They're watercolour on textured paper and quite rustic in feel. Gentle colours and a calm feel blend perfectly with lots of detail to pore over and point together. There is a particularly beautiful double panel which shows how the family's house has been enriched by the accoutrements of childhood - a swing in the garden, a rocking horse in the living room, a mobile above a cot in the bedroom. 

This is not a loud, busy, exciting picture book. It's the perfect bedtime book for sharing and for reinforcing the security that comes from a loving bond between mother and child. It's creative and interesting but also calming and gentle with an irresistible flow. The perfect gift for an expecting or new mother, especially one who wants her child to experience a creative milieu right from day one.

Recommended.

I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic is in the Top Ten Self-Published Books 2020.

Please share on: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

You can read more book reviews or buy I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy I Dreamed You by Justine Avery and Ema Tepic at Amazon.com.  

Comments

Like to comment on this review?

Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.