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Just a Dream
When it comes to the environment, young Walter is not an enlightened individual. He's a litterbug who believes sorting trash is a big waste of time. What's more, he thinks his friend's birthday present, a tree, is the most ridiculous gift he's ever seen.
Walter believes the future is going to be wonderful, filled with robots and other amazing inventions. One night while lying in bed, Walter wishes he could visit the future. He falls asleep and his wish comes true. But the world Walter sees is not exactly what he'd imagined. When he returns to the present, he is changed and so are his dreams.
Caldecott-winning artist Chris Van Allsburg brings us a striking look, in unique and evocative pictures, at what our future may hold.
Walter believes the future is going to be wonderful, filled with robots and other amazing inventions. One night while lying in bed, Walter wishes he could visit the future. He falls asleep and his wish comes true. But the world Walter sees is not exactly what he'd imagined. When he returns to the present, he is changed and so are his dreams.
Caldecott-winning artist Chris Van Allsburg brings us a striking look, in unique and evocative pictures, at what our future may hold.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 1990
26 people are currently reading
1045 people want to read
About the author
Chris Van Allsburg
58 books1,137 followersChris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 18, 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. His sister Karen was born in 1947.
Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.
When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounded by buildings and other houses. Chris’s father ran the dairy with Chris’s three uncles after his grandfather Peter retired.
When Chris was three years old, his family moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids that was part of a development; a kind of planned neighborhood, that was still being built.
There remained many open fields and streams and ponds where a boy could catch minnows and frogs, or see a firefly at night. It was about a mile and a half to Breton Downs School, which Chris walked to every day and attended until 6th grade, when the Van Allsburg family moved again.
The next house they lived in was an old brick Tudor Style house in East Grand Rapids. It was a street that looked like the street on the cover of The Polar Express. The houses were all set back the same distance from the street. Between the street and the sidewalk grew enormous Elm trees whose branches reached up and touched the branches of the trees on the other side of the street. Chris moved to this street with his mom, dad, sister, and two Siamese cats. One named Fafner and the other name Eloise.
Chris went to junior and senior high school in East Grand Rapids. He didn’t take art classes during this time. His interests and talents seemed to be more in the area of math and science.
Chris’s paternal grandfather, Peter, owned and operated a creamery, a place where milk was turned into butter, cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream. It was named East End Creamery and after they bottled the milk (and made the other products) they delivered it to homes all around Grand Rapids in yellow and blue trucks.
When Chris was born, his family lived in an old farm house next door to the large brick creamery building. It was a very old house that, like the little house in Virginia Lee Burton’s story, had once looked over farmland. But by 1949, the house was surrounded by buildings and other houses. Chris’s father ran the dairy with Chris’s three uncles after his grandfather Peter retired.
When Chris was three years old, his family moved to a new house at the edge of Grand Rapids that was part of a development; a kind of planned neighborhood, that was still being built.
There remained many open fields and streams and ponds where a boy could catch minnows and frogs, or see a firefly at night. It was about a mile and a half to Breton Downs School, which Chris walked to every day and attended until 6th grade, when the Van Allsburg family moved again.
The next house they lived in was an old brick Tudor Style house in East Grand Rapids. It was a street that looked like the street on the cover of The Polar Express. The houses were all set back the same distance from the street. Between the street and the sidewalk grew enormous Elm trees whose branches reached up and touched the branches of the trees on the other side of the street. Chris moved to this street with his mom, dad, sister, and two Siamese cats. One named Fafner and the other name Eloise.
Chris went to junior and senior high school in East Grand Rapids. He didn’t take art classes during this time. His interests and talents seemed to be more in the area of math and science.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 355 reviews
November 26, 2019
The first page and I was about to check out and rate this low and then Chris brings his vision to us and I love this book. It’s about our environment and how we are the stewards of the world. It is up to us what the world will look like. It is a little Sci-fy tale. You know how the Native Americans are always asking themselves how this decision affects the next 7 generations. This story has a long perspective like that, encouraging us to think long term instead of day-to-day.
A boy only cares about his TV program and the future with robots and flying cars. I told my nephew it sounds like him. He was supposed to set out the recycling, but he threw it all away. The boy wakes up at night and his bed has taken him to the future and he sees various ways the future is going. There are no flying cars or robots, only pollution and trash. Over and over he wakes up to see a sad world. Fisherman catch 2 tiny fish and rejoice. It’s depressing. The boy wakes up and changes his tune.
Anyway, I love this story. How nice if we could get a nightly glimpse to see how our actions affected our lives and our world 7 generations away. That would be a powerful tool to help us make decisions. I thought this was a wonderful idea.
The nephew was disappointed that the boy saw no robots in the future. He sort of missed the meaning of this story and was focused on robots. I will have to read it to him more than once and hope something leaks in. He gave this 2 stars.
A boy only cares about his TV program and the future with robots and flying cars. I told my nephew it sounds like him. He was supposed to set out the recycling, but he threw it all away. The boy wakes up at night and his bed has taken him to the future and he sees various ways the future is going. There are no flying cars or robots, only pollution and trash. Over and over he wakes up to see a sad world. Fisherman catch 2 tiny fish and rejoice. It’s depressing. The boy wakes up and changes his tune.
Anyway, I love this story. How nice if we could get a nightly glimpse to see how our actions affected our lives and our world 7 generations away. That would be a powerful tool to help us make decisions. I thought this was a wonderful idea.
The nephew was disappointed that the boy saw no robots in the future. He sort of missed the meaning of this story and was focused on robots. I will have to read it to him more than once and hope something leaks in. He gave this 2 stars.
September 1, 2020
A boy who couldn't care less about the environment visits the future in his sleep. Like a version of the Christmas Carol, this boy learns his lesson, changes his ways and makes an effort to do his bit.
Although this is a worthy message and a nice enough short picture book and story it did feel a bit obvious and preachy.
Although this is a worthy message and a nice enough short picture book and story it did feel a bit obvious and preachy.
November 9, 2022
Hope more people get to read this amazing book.
The illustrations are dreamy and perfect. The story is written so well.
The illustrations are dreamy and perfect. The story is written so well.
July 5, 2017
This is one of those books that came out when being green was a top notch priority while everyone was trying to get rich on offering helpful tips whether some of them made sense or not. At the same time although the concept was a good one there were some works that didn't carry quite as pressing a message while in a sense I would say this is one of them.
This isn't the type of book that you want children to learn to read on since the writing is in a large paragraph while at the same time being monotonous. After a while the reader gets the concept of what is going to happen more or less every time his bed floats off.
All in all I would rather recommend Schim's books compared to this one or even Fern Gully for those who don't want to read (and I would only recommend movie one, not two) for those who would like to learn more about protecting the future around them. For those who may be interested in this particular book it can definitely be a starter on how our actions on the earth affect the future we may receive while also offering a few tips to help you get started on being more environmentally-friendly.
This isn't the type of book that you want children to learn to read on since the writing is in a large paragraph while at the same time being monotonous. After a while the reader gets the concept of what is going to happen more or less every time his bed floats off.
All in all I would rather recommend Schim's books compared to this one or even Fern Gully for those who don't want to read (and I would only recommend movie one, not two) for those who would like to learn more about protecting the future around them. For those who may be interested in this particular book it can definitely be a starter on how our actions on the earth affect the future we may receive while also offering a few tips to help you get started on being more environmentally-friendly.
May 20, 2012
I got this book hoping it would be something like “Sector 7” by David Wiesner, which I loved! Sadly, for me, neither the story nor the illustrations were quite as captivating.
The story is about a young boy who doesn’t care at all about the environment (he litters, doesn’t see the beauty of trees). He thinks it would be cool to live in the future and fly spacecrafts and have robots and stuff, but then he falls asleep and dreams about a very different future.
The future he dreams about illustrate a future where trees are being cut-down, smog is blocking the view of the Grand Canyon, and there’s lots of traffic and people on cell phones (now, rather sadly, this sounds a lot like “the present” instead of the future to me…) but, some of the dream sequences are more “futuristic”: a world with few fish left in the sea, no ponds for ducks to land in, etc. So, the question is, will the young dreamer see the world in a different light when he wakes up? Will he finally sort his recyclables and trash into separate bins?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cleaning up the environment! I love nature, I love clean air, and I think something needs to be done to start making the world healthier. But this book just struck me the wrong way from the get-go. It feels way too dogmatic and blatant. And what annoyed me was that it was so trivial in a way. The issues the world faces are big problems. So, to trivialize them by saying the trees are being cut down “for toothpicks” or that the smog is being created by a processing plant that produces medicine to help you fight the effects of smog, just seem to make the issues way to “easy.”
SPOILER ALERT
And as far as the end, I’m not sure how I feel about the “solution” being, basically, to go back 60 years and live how we did in the 1950s. Are there things we could learn from the past? Definitely! But I suppose, personally, I’d rather envision a future where we learn from the past but keep progressing by making things better, rather than reverting to what we’ve already come from.
END SPOILER
Some of the full page illustrations are pretty and pleasant to look at – and, of course, I love the addition of the cat! But overall this book fell flat for me…
The story is about a young boy who doesn’t care at all about the environment (he litters, doesn’t see the beauty of trees). He thinks it would be cool to live in the future and fly spacecrafts and have robots and stuff, but then he falls asleep and dreams about a very different future.
The future he dreams about illustrate a future where trees are being cut-down, smog is blocking the view of the Grand Canyon, and there’s lots of traffic and people on cell phones (now, rather sadly, this sounds a lot like “the present” instead of the future to me…) but, some of the dream sequences are more “futuristic”: a world with few fish left in the sea, no ponds for ducks to land in, etc. So, the question is, will the young dreamer see the world in a different light when he wakes up? Will he finally sort his recyclables and trash into separate bins?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cleaning up the environment! I love nature, I love clean air, and I think something needs to be done to start making the world healthier. But this book just struck me the wrong way from the get-go. It feels way too dogmatic and blatant. And what annoyed me was that it was so trivial in a way. The issues the world faces are big problems. So, to trivialize them by saying the trees are being cut down “for toothpicks” or that the smog is being created by a processing plant that produces medicine to help you fight the effects of smog, just seem to make the issues way to “easy.”
SPOILER ALERT
And as far as the end, I’m not sure how I feel about the “solution” being, basically, to go back 60 years and live how we did in the 1950s. Are there things we could learn from the past? Definitely! But I suppose, personally, I’d rather envision a future where we learn from the past but keep progressing by making things better, rather than reverting to what we’ve already come from.
END SPOILER
Some of the full page illustrations are pretty and pleasant to look at – and, of course, I love the addition of the cat! But overall this book fell flat for me…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2013
This book was a disappointment. Accustomed to the author's incredible stories and illustrations, when compared to others, this fell flat.
A boy who litters and does not help in taking care of his environment, dreams that his bed is floating above areas where the environment is destroyed, including finding a hotel at the top of Mt. Everest.
I don't do well with stories that are preachy. I'm always left wondering if these folk practice what they preach.
Perhaps I'm too critical, but I simply react to those who tell others what to do. While I use energy saving bulbs, politicians run their private jets and limos for hours, sitting on the runway or outside of the hotel after they gave a speech about an inconvenient truth.
Please do not think I believe Allsburg does this, I'm simply saying that my personal reaction colors my thoughts and feelings about the book.
A boy who litters and does not help in taking care of his environment, dreams that his bed is floating above areas where the environment is destroyed, including finding a hotel at the top of Mt. Everest.
I don't do well with stories that are preachy. I'm always left wondering if these folk practice what they preach.
Perhaps I'm too critical, but I simply react to those who tell others what to do. While I use energy saving bulbs, politicians run their private jets and limos for hours, sitting on the runway or outside of the hotel after they gave a speech about an inconvenient truth.
Please do not think I believe Allsburg does this, I'm simply saying that my personal reaction colors my thoughts and feelings about the book.
March 9, 2011
Just a Dream is a picture book that focuses on encouraging kids to think about the environment, and how the choices they make today will affect them in the future. I'm all for such books, but this one falls short, and with picture books being as expensive as they are, I wouldn't choose to spend my money on this one...
Two reasons: though I like the idea of reading books to our kids about doing their part in keeping this planet clean and healthy, the concept of this book sings of cliche and reads like propoganda. There's a message in the words from the moment we meet the little boy who throws his trash onto the ground to the very last page when he rejoices in his decision to have planted a tree on his birthday so many years ago. But... I suppose if I were the editor, and this story had been brought my way, I might have voted to publish it, too.
The fault in this story goes to its layout. Whoever decided to feature the illustrations as two-page spreads, then have the text for those pages follow the illustrations simply blew it. When you're reading a picture book to a child, you want something for the child to look at while you're reading through the story. And you want that picture and those words to match. Especially if the text is long. In this book, you open to the spread of a man climbing a smokestack, and the boy in his dream is in this illustration as well, then we turn the page and we read all about that picture we just passed, meanwhile the child is looking at a snippet of the next part of the story that is to come. Logically, it just doesn't make sense. You lose the interest of a young reader this way, and suddenly the story becomes just words, just a teacher or a mom rambling on and on about burning throats and itchy eyes.
I will say, though. That if you had a crowd of eight or nine or ten-year-olds, that they would get this book. By that time they'd have enough experience reading without needing the aid of pictures, and would get the concept the author is trying to convey, and I could see them even being inspired to be better stewards of our earth, as long as the teacher sat and had a good discussion with them following the reading.
My penny's worth.
Two reasons: though I like the idea of reading books to our kids about doing their part in keeping this planet clean and healthy, the concept of this book sings of cliche and reads like propoganda. There's a message in the words from the moment we meet the little boy who throws his trash onto the ground to the very last page when he rejoices in his decision to have planted a tree on his birthday so many years ago. But... I suppose if I were the editor, and this story had been brought my way, I might have voted to publish it, too.
The fault in this story goes to its layout. Whoever decided to feature the illustrations as two-page spreads, then have the text for those pages follow the illustrations simply blew it. When you're reading a picture book to a child, you want something for the child to look at while you're reading through the story. And you want that picture and those words to match. Especially if the text is long. In this book, you open to the spread of a man climbing a smokestack, and the boy in his dream is in this illustration as well, then we turn the page and we read all about that picture we just passed, meanwhile the child is looking at a snippet of the next part of the story that is to come. Logically, it just doesn't make sense. You lose the interest of a young reader this way, and suddenly the story becomes just words, just a teacher or a mom rambling on and on about burning throats and itchy eyes.
I will say, though. That if you had a crowd of eight or nine or ten-year-olds, that they would get this book. By that time they'd have enough experience reading without needing the aid of pictures, and would get the concept the author is trying to convey, and I could see them even being inspired to be better stewards of our earth, as long as the teacher sat and had a good discussion with them following the reading.
My penny's worth.
May 22, 2012
Well, I would say that I expected more from Van Allsburg, but I'd read my sister's excellent review before I read the book (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) so I knew I probably wasn't going to love this one too much. Still, it could have been so much better! Maybe I'm being a bit too hard on it because it's Van Allsburg, but the imagination aspect here was just so overpowered by the didactic, dim nature of the story I couldn't enjoy it at all. The storytelling was bland and predictable; while I appreciate the message of caring for the environment (here a little boy learns how his negative actions could affect the future), I am not sure I liked the solution presented here. All in all, I would recommend other picture books if you are looking for something to promote care of the Earth, perhaps On Meadowview Street, Home or Big Bear Hug.
November 12, 2018
Walter hasn't got time to consider the immediate world around him. He doesn't want to think about preservation or conservation or doing his part to look after the planet: his eyes and mind are set on the future in which he can own an aeroplane and have a robot do all his work for him. So when he sees that his neighbour, Rose, shows him her birthday present: a tree planted in her back yard, he scoffs and heads off to sleep.
But Walter's dreams are full of uncomfortable and portentous visions. Views lost to smog, a sea in which fish are sparse, a landscape carpeted in mountains of litter and Everest tamed, ridiculed by mankind. Just as with Scrooge, Walter returns changed and understands that ignoring the present is dangerous. Instead on his own birthday he thinks about that little act of Rose and makes a choice that changes his path forever.
I may have questioned how much text Allsburg calls on during the dream sequences (I don't think any were needed) but I still think the message is well done an is a lovely little piece of ecoliterature. As always, Allsburg's illustrations are a delight.
But Walter's dreams are full of uncomfortable and portentous visions. Views lost to smog, a sea in which fish are sparse, a landscape carpeted in mountains of litter and Everest tamed, ridiculed by mankind. Just as with Scrooge, Walter returns changed and understands that ignoring the present is dangerous. Instead on his own birthday he thinks about that little act of Rose and makes a choice that changes his path forever.
I may have questioned how much text Allsburg calls on during the dream sequences (I don't think any were needed) but I still think the message is well done an is a lovely little piece of ecoliterature. As always, Allsburg's illustrations are a delight.
October 11, 2017
Just A Dream is about a boy named Walter who will often leave trash on the ground and hates the idea of getting a tree for his birthday. One night when he falls asleep, he is taken into the future on his bed and he sees what life would be like if we don't take care of it. In the end, he changes his views on nature and keeping the Earth clean, and he is again brought back into the future where a tree he planted is admired by distant relatives.
With beautiful writing and fantastic pictures by Chris Van Allsburg, this book really comes to life. I used this book with my students to continue talking about theme and summarizing, and they thoroughly enjoy the story. There are so many different uses for this book as you can talk with older students about the purpose of the pictures and how they enhance the story.
With beautiful writing and fantastic pictures by Chris Van Allsburg, this book really comes to life. I used this book with my students to continue talking about theme and summarizing, and they thoroughly enjoy the story. There are so many different uses for this book as you can talk with older students about the purpose of the pictures and how they enhance the story.
February 25, 2015
Plot: Walter is young man about to have a birthday. He seems careless and wreckless with this actions in regards to the environment until he goes to bed where his dreams take him to the future.
Setting: United States
Characters: Walter, Rose, and various unnamed people Walter meets in his dreams.
Point-of view: Third person
Theme: environmental impact, recycling.
Style: Children's fiction, traditional story structure.
Notes: Loved this book! Would be great for sharing with little ones and discussing what we can do for our environment. Would be a great Earth Day read.
Setting: United States
Characters: Walter, Rose, and various unnamed people Walter meets in his dreams.
Point-of view: Third person
Theme: environmental impact, recycling.
Style: Children's fiction, traditional story structure.
Notes: Loved this book! Would be great for sharing with little ones and discussing what we can do for our environment. Would be a great Earth Day read.
February 7, 2019
A beautiful picture book where you don't feel the loss of a written narrative at all. The illustrations within this text encourage the reader to engage and view the story from a range of perspectives, this would be a great book to illustrate the variations of storytelling to KS2.
Within KS2 this book holds a lot of potential for exploring variations in perception and the acceptance of this. Would also be great in aiding children to approach picture books and challenging topics with an open mind and feeling able to discuss these.
Within KS2 this book holds a lot of potential for exploring variations in perception and the acceptance of this. Would also be great in aiding children to approach picture books and challenging topics with an open mind and feeling able to discuss these.
May 26, 2013
This eco-themed story tells of a carelessly wasteful boy who falls asleep one night and dreams of the environmental consequences of littering, air pollution, deforestation, and other ills.
This book had lovely illustrations and a positive theme, but it just jumped around too much. This kid woke up over and over and over again, only to promptly go back to sleep and dream of another scene of environmental destruction.
This book had lovely illustrations and a positive theme, but it just jumped around too much. This kid woke up over and over and over again, only to promptly go back to sleep and dream of another scene of environmental destruction.
February 1, 2017
This book hit home for me. I have always been someone who wants to take care of the Earth. After all, we only have one Earth to live on. In this book, Walter has a dream where he visits the future and sees horrendous things that could easily be prevented right now on Earth. When he wakes up, he is motivated to clean up the world around him and take care of Earth. Beautiful illustrations. Illustrator Project Book.
February 14, 2017
This book is suddenly feeling really relevant again...
I had this book when I was a kid and I still think about it all the time, when I'm deciding whether to bother rinsing out a can so I can recycle it or just toss it in the trash, for example. I think about the illustration of the crumpled donut wrapper and I rinse out the can.
I had this book when I was a kid and I still think about it all the time, when I'm deciding whether to bother rinsing out a can so I can recycle it or just toss it in the trash, for example. I think about the illustration of the crumpled donut wrapper and I rinse out the can.
December 22, 2025
Environmentalism may be a good cause, but the writing in this book was so dense and metaphorical that the message flew completely over the kids' heads. There's got to be a less boring way to show kids that littering is bad; 2 stars
July 3, 2016
Not a realistic end but a nice message all the same. Creative depiction of important idea.
January 16, 2020
"Just a Dream" is a good story that centers around the topic of saving our environment. Walter, the main character, is a careless kid who tosses garbage on the ground, doesn't bother sorting the recyclable materials from the garbage, and doesn't understand why the girl next door is excited about planting a tree. He goes to sleep, thinking about what his future will be like, hoping it will turn out like his favorite tv show that depicts a future with personal tiny planes, robots that take out the trash, and small machines that can make any food you like at the push of a button....
He dreams of the future, and it's not what he expects. It's nothing like the tv show, and it's not how he wants the future to become. He wakes from his dream, determined to change things for the better.
I enjoy reading this story with my fourth grade class. It's a good book to teach the theme of the story, since they easily understand it right away. It also leads to good discussions about what they can do to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
He dreams of the future, and it's not what he expects. It's nothing like the tv show, and it's not how he wants the future to become. He wakes from his dream, determined to change things for the better.
I enjoy reading this story with my fourth grade class. It's a good book to teach the theme of the story, since they easily understand it right away. It also leads to good discussions about what they can do to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
January 26, 2020
I thought this book did an excellent job at describing how most typical teenagers feel about their role in taking care of the environment. The main character, Walter, is a boy who litters, thinks planting trees and plants is dumb, and doesn't want to take the time to sort all the trash into the different containers meant for recycling. The book then transitions into Walter sitting down to watch his favorite TV show which is futuristic with robots and spaceships. He then drifts into sleep and gets a glimpse of what the future really will look like if people don't take the time to care about the environment. Each page is a different part of Walter's dream with a description of how things have changed and why they changed. Teachers can use this book to help teens and older elementary students relate to environmental care. Students can think about what they can do now to stop the devastation that caused the deterioration on each page. The environmental devastation is not explicitly stated, but rather implied through the picture and story within the text. Students could also be asked to pick a page and research that particular type of environmental care.
April 1, 2022
Delightful and beautifully tragic.
This is an amazing journey into the future and the importance of taking care of our planet. Great for all ages.
This is an amazing journey into the future and the importance of taking care of our planet. Great for all ages.
June 7, 2021
A story about the possible futures of earth if we litter too much. It was pretty good.
July 22, 2021
What will happen to our environment in the future? How is this impacted by our actions in the present? Will technological advances create a paradise where we drive around in airplane cars, or a wasteland filled with trash and smog? These are the questions raised in Van Allsburg's book "Just a Dream." The main character is a young boy who fantasizes about the technological possibilities of the future, yet fails to care for the present. He litters and is too lazy to sort the recycling. In his dreams one night he experiences different possibilities for the future in a land where no one cared for the environment. Upon waking, he realizes that we choose our future by our actions in the present.
For classroom use, this book could obviously be used as a starting point for discussions about human impact on the environment, climate change, pollution, etc. It could also prompt thought and discussion about what we truly want our future to look like- along with steps we can take now to help bring that future about. That future could be environmental, but it can also be applied to small and large goals for our personal lives. More broadly, this story could demonstrate cause and effect relationships, use of dream sequences to show multiple possible outcomes, and carrying a motif (in this case the boy's bed) through a book. I could see reading this story in grades 1-6.
For classroom use, this book could obviously be used as a starting point for discussions about human impact on the environment, climate change, pollution, etc. It could also prompt thought and discussion about what we truly want our future to look like- along with steps we can take now to help bring that future about. That future could be environmental, but it can also be applied to small and large goals for our personal lives. More broadly, this story could demonstrate cause and effect relationships, use of dream sequences to show multiple possible outcomes, and carrying a motif (in this case the boy's bed) through a book. I could see reading this story in grades 1-6.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2026
Unexpected! Very good moral lesson but was not what I was expecting based on title and cover art.
October 5, 2019
After Walter eats his jelly-filled donut, he crumples up the empty bag and throws it on the ground. When Walter sees that Rose, the girl next door got a tree for her birthday present he thought that was a dumb present. After dinner Walter took out the trash, and didn't separate the bottles, cans, and trash but instead put everything into one can so that he could get back to his favorite show. The show that Walter was some excited to watch was about a boy who lived in the future, he went to bed that night wishing he lived in the future. Until Walter's bed traveled to the future, but it was a future that was polluted with piles of trash and smoke filled air.
As a teacher, I could use this book about taking care of our planet with a unit lesson plan about recycling or global warming. This book by Chis Van Allsburg had a unique way of waking Walter up to have a more eco-friendly life. Showing that doing the small things, like recycling or picking up your trash can change the future for us all. Especially in today world, where global warming is causing our world is slowly getting washed away because of the choices we made in the past.
As a teacher, I could use this book about taking care of our planet with a unit lesson plan about recycling or global warming. This book by Chis Van Allsburg had a unique way of waking Walter up to have a more eco-friendly life. Showing that doing the small things, like recycling or picking up your trash can change the future for us all. Especially in today world, where global warming is causing our world is slowly getting washed away because of the choices we made in the past.
October 7, 2019
This book is about a young boy who littered, didn’t separate his trash and recycling, and told his neighbor Rose, who had gotten a tree for her birthday, that he would never get a tree for his birthday. After watching a show about the future he went to bed. That night he went to various forms of the future, but it wasn’t what he expected. He had expected robots and flying cars. However, he saw trash dumps where his house used to be, smog filled landmarks, and ducks who struggled to find a pond to eat at. After he woke up he picked up his trash, sorted the garbage and recycling, and planted a tree for his birthday.
This would be a great book to use in older grades when talking about recycling or near Earth Day. This book could be read and then students could write a story about what they’re ideal future would look like and how they can help create it. Another fun activity would be to go to a recycling plant or go outside and pick up trash.
This would be a great book to use in older grades when talking about recycling or near Earth Day. This book could be read and then students could write a story about what they’re ideal future would look like and how they can help create it. Another fun activity would be to go to a recycling plant or go outside and pick up trash.
January 5, 2024
(Review from 2024)
Read this as a kid, long before I became an environmental professional. The book's message holds up though and is a good introduction to kids on why its important to take care of our planet.
Read this as a kid, long before I became an environmental professional. The book's message holds up though and is a good introduction to kids on why its important to take care of our planet.
October 16, 2019
Walter, a young boy, loves to get a jelly doughnut every day on his way home from school, but he always throws his paper bag on the ground. One night, just a few nights before his birthday, Walter had a dream. In this dream, he traveled all around in his bed. He went to the future where he landed in a big pile of garbage, in a tree that was about to be chopped down, in an industrial smoke-filled place, on top of Mt. Everest, and many more places. With every new place he went, he learned of a new way the Earth could be polluted. He kept telling himself that it was “Just a Dream,” but when he woke up the next morning he took action. Walter went and found the paper bag from the day before and threw it in the recycling where it belonged. A few days later on his birthday, he planted a new tree. On the night of his birthday he had another dream, but this time when he went to the future it was green and beautiful because he had done everything he could to help the environment.
This book would be great to use in 1st-5th grade to teach about the environment and the impacts we have on it by our everyday choices.
This book would be great to use in 1st-5th grade to teach about the environment and the impacts we have on it by our everyday choices.
October 13, 2017
Summary: Van Allsburg captures readers immediately in his well-liked book, Just a Dream. The story begins with a boy, Walter, who does not have a care in the world about the environment. So much so that he purposely hurries through chores and even throws trash directly on the ground. He falls asleep one night and dreams of the future. Each experience shows the damage done by past generations who feel the way Walter does about the environment. The story terrifies him page after page, seeing the pollution and overcrowding effects. This fantasy meets reality as Walter begins to realize the importance of caring for the earth. The ending turns out, as Walter describes, peaceful.
Teaching tool: This book could be used for so many lessons! Clearly, Van Allsburg’s talent allows the reader to learn from every page. A specific lesson in the story is the importance of caring for the environment. Reading strategies that could be enhanced with this book are predicting and inferring. Van Allsburg does not include text on every page, allowing the reader to infer what is happening. Something else he does that could benefit young readers is not stating the problem, instead he hints around and suggests readers decide why the situation isn’t favorable. Lastly, students could study the author’s use of scale. He makes sure to emphasize the important aspects on each page by their size. Excellent, multi-purpose text for the classroom.
Teaching tool: This book could be used for so many lessons! Clearly, Van Allsburg’s talent allows the reader to learn from every page. A specific lesson in the story is the importance of caring for the environment. Reading strategies that could be enhanced with this book are predicting and inferring. Van Allsburg does not include text on every page, allowing the reader to infer what is happening. Something else he does that could benefit young readers is not stating the problem, instead he hints around and suggests readers decide why the situation isn’t favorable. Lastly, students could study the author’s use of scale. He makes sure to emphasize the important aspects on each page by their size. Excellent, multi-purpose text for the classroom.
June 25, 2014
I am perhaps not the most objective judge of Van Allsburg's "Just a Dream," as this is an author and illustrator I have grown up with and subsequently built into my curriculum as a first-year 3rd grade teacher. I find his illustrations most elusive and stimulating. Just a Dream does not disappoint in this regard, with Van Allsburg's trusted vision as an illustrator.
The narrative itself provides an explicit, if a bit didactic, teaching of environmental ethics. A young boy, Walter, dreams of a future of robots and sophisticated machines. He is a boy who doesn't believe in recycling, doesn't care about litter, and laughs at his friend Rose's birthday gift of a sapling tree. Similar to Cherry's "The Great Kapok Tree," Van Allsburg relies on dreams as a structure to project a dark and dreary hypothetical future, a future in which wastefulness and trash prevail, and the natural world is in peril.
This is a great text to teach character perspective and changes in character perspective (i.e. "how do Walter's dreams change his character perspective?). This would also be a great text to teach alongside "The Great Kapok Tree" to see if students pick up on the text structure of dreams as a vehicle of changing character perspective.
The narrative itself provides an explicit, if a bit didactic, teaching of environmental ethics. A young boy, Walter, dreams of a future of robots and sophisticated machines. He is a boy who doesn't believe in recycling, doesn't care about litter, and laughs at his friend Rose's birthday gift of a sapling tree. Similar to Cherry's "The Great Kapok Tree," Van Allsburg relies on dreams as a structure to project a dark and dreary hypothetical future, a future in which wastefulness and trash prevail, and the natural world is in peril.
This is a great text to teach character perspective and changes in character perspective (i.e. "how do Walter's dreams change his character perspective?). This would also be a great text to teach alongside "The Great Kapok Tree" to see if students pick up on the text structure of dreams as a vehicle of changing character perspective.
November 30, 2017
Walter is simply not an environmentalist: he’s a litterbug who sees no reason to sort trash and recycle. While he is watching a television show about the future, his next-door neighbor, Rose, is watering her birthday present: a tree. Walter thinks it’s the most ridiculous present he’s ever seen.
Walter wishes he could visit the future, and, one night, his dream comes true. But the future is not the one he envisioned. There are no personal airplanes to zip around in, no robots to take out the trash, no machines to create his favorite jelly doughnuts by the thousands. The future is not at all what he’d expected. But his new perspective on the future gives him a new dream for his own future.
Despite the vibrant illustrations in this children’s picture book, the story falls flat with its unexpected [and patently unrealistic] ending. Children do need to learn to care for the planet, to appreciate nature, to protect the trees. But this little story, with its glib back-to-the-past solution, fails to make the lesson one children will take to heart.
Walter wishes he could visit the future, and, one night, his dream comes true. But the future is not the one he envisioned. There are no personal airplanes to zip around in, no robots to take out the trash, no machines to create his favorite jelly doughnuts by the thousands. The future is not at all what he’d expected. But his new perspective on the future gives him a new dream for his own future.
Despite the vibrant illustrations in this children’s picture book, the story falls flat with its unexpected [and patently unrealistic] ending. Children do need to learn to care for the planet, to appreciate nature, to protect the trees. But this little story, with its glib back-to-the-past solution, fails to make the lesson one children will take to heart.
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