Ti Marie loves to paint, but her family is too poor to buy her proper art supplies. She admires the work of a local man, and dreams of making paintings such as his, but she devotes most of her time and attention to helping her mother. One day, at the local market, Ti Marie and her mother are working and hoping for customers. When none come, Ti Marie gets a great idea. The next day, people are swarmed around her mother's spot at the market to look at the painting Ti Marie created on the wall. Because of her efforts, the people also shop and buy her mother's goods. ( )

I absolutely loved this story. The determination of Ti Marie, the young girl in the story, sets a great tone throughout the story. I think that the big idea of this story is to make sure to always keep your interests and what makes you happy in the forefront. Embracing one's creative side is a great quality and many can learn to do that from this story. An example of Ti Marie's determination for embracing her creative side was when she went into an artist's yard and took scraps and old paint out of the trash so that she could use it for her artwork. Although this could be viewed as trespassing and stealing, Ti Marie meant no harm and was using old thrown away materials. Another example of something that I enjoyed from this story was how she was always obeying her mother and wanted the best for her family. When her mother was selling vegetables at the market, Ti Marie decided to paint a mural behind her mother's stand to add more color. The beautiful artwork brought more people to her mother's vegetable stand and Ti Marie felt very proud. Her mother was happy and it made Ti Marie's heart fill with joy. ( )

This was another good story by Williams, this one set in Haiti and describing how a little girl uses her aspirations to become an artist to help her fruit-selling family. It was a good book, describing another culture and another inventive child making the best of an impoverished life. ( )

More than anything, Ti Marie longed to be an artist - to paint the beauty of the world around her, the beauty of Haiti. Although her family was too poor to afford the paints and papers of which she dreamed, the resourceful young girl worked with what she had: pigments made from orange brick, white stone, and charcoal; the "canvases" supplied by blank walls, whether at home or the market. When she and her sisters pass the house of Msie Antoine, the local bocor, or voodoo priest, and see him painting, Ti Marie gets an idea...

A lovely tale that emphasizes the fact that an artist will always be an artist, because artistry comes from the heart, rather than the materials and medium used, Painted Dreams also offers a wonderful portrait of rural Haiti and her people. The watercolor illustrations by Catherine Stock - who worked with Karen Lynn Williams on Tap-Tap, also set in Haiti - emphasize the colorful world from which Ti Marie draws inspiration. All in all, a charming picture-book, highly recommended to those looking for good children's stories set in Haiti, or for tales that encourage the artistic impulse of young readers. ( )

Marrie dreams about becomming an artist. When she is not doing chores for her mom she is painting.