Many children’s books have been written about bad dreams and monsters, but this one is unique in offering a practical activity – making a native dreamcatcher – to help children cope with nightmares.

First-time picture book author and Montreal teacher Bonnie Farmer weaves a story about a young black boy so preoccupied by a nightmare about monsters that he’s unableto play or nap at school. His understanding teacher gets Isaac to draw a picture of the monster then throw it away, but Isaac worries that the monster will leap out of the garbage can. At naptime, Isaac can’t sleep for fear that if he closes his eyes, he’ll see the monster again, so the teacher cuddles him on her lap. Later, she tells him what a dreamcatcher is (it catches the bad dreams while letting the happy ones float down the feathers to the sleeper) and recalls her grandmother making one when she was little. Using pipe-cleaners, string, beads, and feathers, Isaac and his teacher make a dreamcatcher. That night, Isaac hangs his dreamcatcher above his bed and dreams happily of flying through the stars on a magical bird.With his teacher’s help, Isaac has created a symbol that acknowledges both good and bad dreams.

The author shows a deep understanding of just how intractable a child’s bad dreams can be. Although the text is a bit wordy for this age level, the story moves right along. Matching the sombre mood of the text are the richly textured, intensely coloured stylized illustrations by Montreal animation artist Anouk Pérusse-Bell.

The last page of the book has instructions (which appear more complicated than they are) to create very small dreamcatchers. Since almost every child has bad dreams, parents and teachers who want to be prepared will likely include this book in their library.