Just A Dream

Just A Dream is written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg.
Picture Book
3rd - 4th Grade
5 out of 5

This book is about a little boy who wishes he could live in the future, until he has a dream that he lives in the future and the world is ruined by pollution. After having this dream he begins to understand the importance in taking care of our environment.

I love this book. Everything about it is great. It has a great plot and moral to the story. The story leaves you wanting to make a change in the world because the book tells and shows us what it could end up like in the future. The pictures in this book really help add to the plot of the story because it shows the young boy, Walter, watching from his bed from the outside at what is happening to our world in the future. They also show what the world will look like in the future if pollution is not controlled. I also like how the book goes from a full 2-page illustration to a page of text and a page of a small picture and a little text and then back to the beginning of the pattern. I think the full 2-page illustrations will help so that the reader is able to understand the total devastation of pollution in the future.

Just A Dream would be an awesome book to use in the classroom to teach students about protecting our world. This could be an opening to help them understand what our world could be like if everyone does not work to save it from pollution. I think kids would really love this book because it is from the viewpoint of a young boy so that they will be able to relate and also because the pictures are detailed and amazing. You could have students figure out a way to aid in helping the environment by fundraising, teaching the community, or any other project that will help our future world.