Dream Invader

by Gerard Whelan

When Saskia goes to stay with her uncle and aunt she finds them worried about her little cousin Simon, who is having terrible dreams. Something strange is definitely going on and it seems to be centered on Simon's car-shaped bed that once belonged to another little boy. Then an old woman enters the scene. The forces of good and evil fight for control over the child while Saskia watches the horrible events unfold.

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Gerard Whelan is an Irish author born in 1957 in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. He has lived and worked in several European countries. After some time living in Dublin, he returned to live in his native Wexford.

He is the author of many books for children and is a multiple award-winner. He has also written the non-fiction book Spiked: Church, State Intrigue and the Rose Tattoo, and edited the anthology Big Pictures. He is married and has one son, Davy.

The Guns of Easter, A Winter of Spies, and War Children are historical novels based on the Irish struggle for independence in the early 20th century, while Dream Invader and Out of Nowhere are fantasy novels.

Reviews

[Jemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this as a child. I got it from the library when I was on holidays in West Cork and I loved it so much I got my own copy. It has stuck with me over twenty years later, every now and then I’d think about the Pooshipaw. I had a sudden urge to re-read it but couldn’t find my original copy so I quickly snapped up a secondhand copy from eBay and got to reading.

I was worried it wouldn’t be as good as I remembered or would be more ‘childish’ than I recalled but no, this is a brilliant read for any age (although might be scary for some younger readers so parents might want to give it a look first). The characters are loveable and realistic (well, the human ones anyway)..

Birdie Murray might possibly be the greatest character ever put to page and she absolutely had the best lines especially when putting Phil down. A genius story and a nostalgic one for me.