The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis

Reviewed by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Five paw prints! This is the fictionalized story of world famous poet Pablo Neruda. Pablo Neruda was a man who was fascinated by the world around him. He wrote poems for everyday "common" people to understand and not just for professors at universities. He was such a good poet that he won the Nobel Prize for literature. But before he became a world famous poet he was Neftali Reyes, a small boy from Chile whose father was so embarrassed by his son's daydreaming that Neftali had to change his name to Pablo so his father wouldn't know about the poems. Neftali grew up small, gentle, and quiet, but he made up for it by having good grades in school. But this wasn't enough for his father. His father wanted Neftali to be big, strong, athletic, and eventually go to college to study business. Neftali's father was NOT pleased that Neftali was curious about the world around him, and he hated that Neftali would be kind to other people...even people who didn't look, think, or act like his father or his father's friends. His father would go so far as to call Neftali an idiot in front of his friends from work. Luckily, Neftali had support from his mother, uncle, brother, sister, and local librarian, and they each helped him follow his dream of becoming a writer. I loved this book. It was beautiful. The story was as gentle as Neftali. You wanted to learn and understand the world with Neftali, and you hurt with Neftali when he was hurt by his father. Not only were the words important in this book but the pictures were important too. The pictures were like poems that helped the story come alive. I had a hard time putting this book down. If you like this book and want to read other books by this author or illustrator then visit http://www.pammunozryan.com/ or http://www.petersis.com/.

Fic Rya