Engelbert Sneem and His Dream Vacuum Machine

by Daniel Postgate

"We have rascals and robbers, cheaters and pinchers, fibbers and squealers, and scoundrels and stinkers. But out of them all, there is nobody meaner than Engelbert Sneem and his dream vacuum cleaner." Enter the world of Engelbert Sneem and find out what happens when he turns out to be his own worst nightmare. This fabulous read-aloud is sure to be a hit with parents and kids alike. A satisfying conclusion sets the stage for a night of sweet dreams.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Dragons, Fantasy, Storytime, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2007

About the author

Daniel Raymond Postgate was an English scriptwriter, author and illustrator. Some of his books include Smelly Bill, Engelbert Sneem and His Dream Vacuum Machine, and Big Mum Plum. In 2014, he collaborated with Oliver Postgate's business partner and other founder of Smallfilms, Peter Firmin on the production of a new series of The Clangers, with Daniel Postgate writing many of the episodes and voicing the Iron Chicken, The Soup Dragon, and her son, Baby Soup Dragon. He won a Bafta for his episode 'I am the Eggbot'.
After the death of his father in 2008, Postgate inherited Smallfilms, the company set up by Postgate and Firmin. Smallfilms is a company that has made Pingwings, Pogles' Wood, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine, Clangers and Bagpuss, and was shown on the BBC between 1950s and 1980s, and on ITV from 1959 to the present day.

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern classic

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engelbert Sneem and his Dream Vacuum Cleaner was written and illustrated by Daniel Postgate in 2006. It’s about a goblin who terrorises young children by taking their dreams back to his dungeon. If your dream is stolen then you become a miserable person.

We liked it when he stole the dreams because it was very imaginative and the pictures made him look a little scary but also funny. His lair was fascinating and made us imagine what life would be like for Sneem living on a castle on a rock, alone in the middle of nowhere. We think there could have been more action and could have been a little more scary.

We recommend this book for kids who have nightmares because it presents them in a positive light. But even if you don’t have nightmares you can still enjoy it. We think it should be for kids older than 5 as it might be a little scary.

Mr A and the Grade 2 class

[Misbah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engelbert Sneem is a dragon riding dream catcher, who bottles up peoples hopes and dreams when they are children and hides them away in his castle. He's a slimy character he enjoys seeing people dreamless and miserable.
But when one child, after learning about Sneem dreams about the notorious dream-stealer, Sneem unintentionally captures a nightmare of himself in his little bottles.
He realizes how wrong he was and decides to change his ways. From the then on he only steals nightmares so that people can live on with beautiful dreams to keep them going.

An imaginative rhyming story that is filled with great words that might be a wonderful gift for anyone plagued with bad dreams.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a parent who has read HEAPS of books to my 2 sons over the years this is my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE. It’s a fantastic story with a brilliant ending. As a parent it’s a joy to read with a wonderful rhythm to it. Daniel has also done a great job with the illustrations; I particularly love the dragon carriage. Well done to Daniel Postgate for creating such a masterpiece!

[Damahro · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book a bazillion stars I would. This is the book that eventually got my son to become interested in reading.
The rhyming is perfect and I add voices because that makes every book better. It’s still such a fun book to read. Also has a great moral to the story.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique kid’s story with lyrical writing.

[Sussu Leclerc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

[Melissa Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book, pictures were fabulous very close to BFG storyline in some respects but a wonderful book my 6 year old son has asked me to read again and again.

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several times, I thought I’d accidentally skipped a page…so something was lacking in the story. But otherwise the rhyming was delightful, as were the illustrations.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son is obsessed with vacuum cleaners, so my sister got him this for his third birthday. The reviews were positive and she interpreted the title to mean "his fantastic awesome amazing vacuum machine" rather than what it is: a machine that sucks up dreams (for better or worse). Turns out the first 80% of the book is really dark and fairly scary; more than my little guy likes. We skip to the last part. The 6 and 8 year old think it's clever and neat and lovely.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

A family friend of mine posted on my Facebook wall after I shared last month's reading post and asked if I'd ever read this. She and her son had just read it after he chose it at the library, and really enjoyed it - so of course I had to check it out. What a fun book - and coincidentally I found a weeded copy from another library in our book sale, so picked it up and now own it. Thanks for the recommendation, Jacob!

[Katey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If a child is having nightmares this is a great book. Engelbert Sneem wasn't really mean he just liked enjoying little kids dreams. He then discovered that he was giving them naightmares and he must change his ways. So from now on he steels only nightmares and corks them up tight. He hopes that the world will now be a place of happiness and people doing the right thing

[Lisa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for kid's books written in verse. This one might be a bit too creepy for really young ones, but my 6 year old and I enjoyed both the illustrations and the tale about an imp who steals good dreams. He has a change of heart, and ends up taking away the nightmares instead. Bonus vocabulary word: flagon.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried about this book when I first started reading it to my son last night. I was afraid it would induce nightmares, and we have had plenty of those lately, thank you very much. Instead, it turned into rather a good book to read at bedtime, so that was a relief.

The illustrations are good, but not great, and certainly not as magical as the text would demand.

[Nux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thisone hovers between 3.5 stars and 4 stars, but then I downgraded it to 3 because the pictures are so cute that you'd think it's for the tinies, but then the story's too scary for them... might give them nightmares! Will have to think hard of which year's shelf this one will go to.

[Amber Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book great for all ages. It tells the story of a dream stealer who collects others dreams. The author uses italicized words and rhyming to intrigue readers. I will use this book in my class to show and teach students to write using different fonts and rhymes.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute rhyme about an evil man who steals the happy dreams of children. But once he accidentally steals a nightmare (about himself no less!) and sees the error of his ways. Instead of happy dreams, he changes to taking nightmares to protect children.

Lovely, fun illustrations.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this book and my daughter still picks it out for me to read, even though she can read it herself. Sneem is cheeky and dark but charming. It is a lovely little bedtime tale, in which you can hope that there is someone out there protecting you from the bad dreams.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

FUN RHYMING!

[Leona · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't care for this one. scary guy, scary story. cute rhymes but just not fun for kids.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as a birthday gift for a child and found I didn't want to give it away! A clever, fun book that both you and your kid will love.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Dr. Seuss wrote the BFG

[Kelly Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever story about a reformed dream-stealer with wonderfully vibrant illustrations. Some pages had too much text, but then others were nice and concise so it balanced out.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My three-year-old son liked this quite a lot. I thought the verse was good and the story was interesting, although his change from evil to good was a bit sudden.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was more for older children. My 4-year-old listened but I don't think he understood what was happening like my 8-year-old did.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like a picture book version of The BFG. Classic tale of villian redemption . . .

[Camille Tesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun picture book. It even had me talking in rhyme for a while after I read it, and i thought that Engelbert Sneem is a fantastic name for a picture-book character.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea done well.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story, haven't yet read it to my son, but I hope he loves it too - certainly going to be my favorite bedtime story with him.

[Magila · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art lets it down a bit, but the story is great.