Note: I received a digital review copy of this book through NetGalley. ( )

Baboon hears other jungle animals question their abilities to do things. He mocks them but they go out and do what they only dreamed of doing. He finally thinks he should follow his dream also.

This is an adorable story that shows that dreams can come true. The illustrations are wonderful. I liked that at the end were ideas on activities to do with family and friends to think about your dreams and how to make them come true. ( )

Review of eBook

Long ago, when the savannas were new in the wilds of East Africa, Caterpillar looked up at the night sky and wished upon a star; he wanted to fly. Tadpole looked up at the night sky and wished upon a star; he wanted to dance. Flamingo looked up at the night sky and wished upon a star; she wanted to be beautiful.

Baboon doesn’t believe their fantastic dreams can come true, but Caterpillar turns into a butterfly, tadpole grows feet so he can dance, and Flamingo turns into a beautiful pink bird. Baboon watches this and wishes to celebrate everyone’s dream coming true while encouraging others. He gets a chance to do just that when Termite becomes so afraid that she hides. Baboon, Caterpillar, Tadpole, and Flamingo write a special song for Termite, who then builds a beautiful castle. With everyone happy, the animals celebrate with drums and pom-poms.

This mythological fable, the first in a series, reveals the secret moody Baboon discovers. A footnote provides a brief fact about each of the animals as the young reader meets each of them. The story tells young readers to believe in themselves, to dream their biggest dreams and to believe they can come true. It reminds them to celebrate their lives. Because they are made of star-stuff, they are extraordinary. A positive lesson in self-esteem, young readers are sure to read this story over and over again.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Greenleaf Book Group Press and NetGalley
#DreamBig #NetGalley ( )

Dream Big by Kat Kronenberg follows Baboon’s adventures on the African Savanna. Baboon sees his fellow animals wish upon a star at night so that their dreams might come true. Tadpole wants legs to dance with, Flamingo wants to be beautiful, not fuzzy grey, Caterpillar wants to fly. When his friends dreams start coming true, Baboon decides to follow suit. This book had cute art, but the message fell flat for me. It's lesson of not limiting your dreams is a good message, but important caveats are missing. Simply wishing isn't enough to make your dreams come true. You still gotta have persistence and dedication. Turning lead to gold requires not just belief, but hard work as well. These 'dreams’ of the animals, too, are things that would have happened to them anyway, wish or no. For the most part, they are passive dreams, not requiring real effort in the critter's part. And some dreams require way more hard work and in some cases luck than others do. Some will never come true. No matter how much I wish, dream, pray, or work hard, I'm not ever going to gain my eye back. Despite scientific breakthroughs, I'll likely be long gone before the medical sciences are advanced enough to give me a prosthesis capable of seeing better than my remaining eye. Just saying…

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Greenleaf Book Group for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. ( )

The best thing about this book is the illustrations. They are bright, colourful and full of details. The pictures alone will elicit a conversation with the child you are reading with. This is a story about dreaming the impossible. Each night baboon watches as the other animals wish on a star for their wildest dreams. Caterpillar wishes to fly and then he turns into a butterfly. Tadpole wants to dance and turns into a frog and flamingo wants to be beautiful and grows into a bright colourful bird. Baboon realizes that if he believes and wishes upon the star then maybe he will get his wish too. The problem I have with the story is that even thought the concept is good, the dreams were not impossible, they were inevitable. The story is more about not giving up, than dreaming big. There are some great activities at the back of the book to do with kids. I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. ( )