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Dreams
Roberto is excited about the paper mouse he made in school, until Amy asks, "Does it do anything?" Roberto isn't sure, so he leaves the mouse on his window sill and goes to bed. Before long his apartment building is quiet, but Roberto can't fall asleep. So he gets up to look out the window and sees Archie's cat being chased by a big, snarling dog! Roberto doesn't know what to do, but fate steps in and an unlikely hero comes to the cat's rescue. "The artist's skillful use of a combination of acrylic painting and collage has never been more effectively employed than in this quiet tale." - The Horn Book
40 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
3 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Ezra Jack Keats
112Ìýbooks363ÌýfollowersEzra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Many of Ezra’s stories are about a group of friends growing up in the city. The neighborhood they live in looks like the streets where Ezra grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
He was born Jacob Ezra Katz, the third child of Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy. The family was very poor. Jack, as he was known, was artistic from an early age, and joyfully made pictures out of whatever scraps of wood, cloth and paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz, who worked as a waiter, tried to discourage his son, insisting that artists lived terrible, impoverished lives. Nevertheless, he sometimes brought home tubes of paint, claiming, "A starving artist swapped this for a bowl of soup."
With little encouragement at home, Keats sought validation for his skills at school and learned about art at the public library. He received a medal for drawing on graduating from Junior High School 149. Although unimpressive-looking, the medal meant a great deal to him, and he kept it his entire life. Keats attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he won a national contest run by Scholastic for an oil painting depicting hobos warming themselves around a fire. At his graduation, in January 1935, he was to receive the senior class medal for excellence in art. Two days before the ceremony, Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack. When Keats identified his father's body, he later wrote, "I found myself staring deep into his secret feelings. There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."
His father's death curtailed his dream of attending art school. For the remainder of the Great Depression until he was drafted for military service in World War II, Keats took art classes when he could and worked at a number of jobs, most notably as a mural painter under the New Deal program the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and as a comic book illustrator. At Fawcett Publications, he illustrated backgrounds for the Captain Marvel comic strip. He spent his military service (1943-45) designing camouflage patterns for the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1947, he petitioned to legally change his name to Ezra Jack Keats, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudice of the time.
Keats spent most of 1949 painting and studying in Paris, realizing a long-deferred dream of working as an artist. After returning to New York, he focused on earning a living as a commercial artist, undoubtedly influenced by his father's anxieties. His illustrations began to appear in Reader's Digest, The New York Times Book Review, Collier's and Playboy, and on the jackets of popular books. His work was displayed in Fifth Avenue store windows, and the Associated American Artists Gallery, in New York City, gave him exhibitions in 1950 and 1954.
In his unpublished autobiography, Keats wrote, "I didn't even ask to get into children's books." In fact, he was asked to do so by Elizabeth Riley of Crowell, which brought out his first children's title, Jubilant for Sure, written by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing, in 1954. To prepare for the assignment, Keats went to rural Kentucky, where the story takes place, to sketch. Many children's books followed, including the Danny Dunn adventure series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, and an ethnographic series by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine, beginning with The Indians Knew. All told, Keats illustrated nearly 70 books written by other authors.
In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the stage production Captain Louie), designing
He was born Jacob Ezra Katz, the third child of Polish-Jewish immigrants Benjamin Katz and Augusta Podgainy. The family was very poor. Jack, as he was known, was artistic from an early age, and joyfully made pictures out of whatever scraps of wood, cloth and paper that he could collect. Benjamin Katz, who worked as a waiter, tried to discourage his son, insisting that artists lived terrible, impoverished lives. Nevertheless, he sometimes brought home tubes of paint, claiming, "A starving artist swapped this for a bowl of soup."
With little encouragement at home, Keats sought validation for his skills at school and learned about art at the public library. He received a medal for drawing on graduating from Junior High School 149. Although unimpressive-looking, the medal meant a great deal to him, and he kept it his entire life. Keats attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where he won a national contest run by Scholastic for an oil painting depicting hobos warming themselves around a fire. At his graduation, in January 1935, he was to receive the senior class medal for excellence in art. Two days before the ceremony, Benjamin Katz died in the street of a heart attack. When Keats identified his father's body, he later wrote, "I found myself staring deep into his secret feelings. There in his wallet were worn and tattered newspaper clippings of the notices of the awards I had won. My silent admirer and supplier, he had been torn between his dread of my leading a life of hardship and his real pride in my work."
His father's death curtailed his dream of attending art school. For the remainder of the Great Depression until he was drafted for military service in World War II, Keats took art classes when he could and worked at a number of jobs, most notably as a mural painter under the New Deal program the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and as a comic book illustrator. At Fawcett Publications, he illustrated backgrounds for the Captain Marvel comic strip. He spent his military service (1943-45) designing camouflage patterns for the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1947, he petitioned to legally change his name to Ezra Jack Keats, in reaction to the anti-Semitic prejudice of the time.
Keats spent most of 1949 painting and studying in Paris, realizing a long-deferred dream of working as an artist. After returning to New York, he focused on earning a living as a commercial artist, undoubtedly influenced by his father's anxieties. His illustrations began to appear in Reader's Digest, The New York Times Book Review, Collier's and Playboy, and on the jackets of popular books. His work was displayed in Fifth Avenue store windows, and the Associated American Artists Gallery, in New York City, gave him exhibitions in 1950 and 1954.
In his unpublished autobiography, Keats wrote, "I didn't even ask to get into children's books." In fact, he was asked to do so by Elizabeth Riley of Crowell, which brought out his first children's title, Jubilant for Sure, written by Elisabeth Hubbard Lansing, in 1954. To prepare for the assignment, Keats went to rural Kentucky, where the story takes place, to sketch. Many children's books followed, including the Danny Dunn adventure series, by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin, and an ethnographic series by Tillie S. Pine and Joseph Levine, beginning with The Indians Knew. All told, Keats illustrated nearly 70 books written by other authors.
In 1983, Keats died at the age of 67 following a heart attack. His last projects included designing the sets for a musical version of his book The Trip (which would later become the stage production Captain Louie), designing
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
December 15, 2021
I love the colors and art details in this story.Ìý Ezra is amazing at his skills.Ìý The story is simple and humorous.Ìý Roberto has a mouse made of paper from school and he wonders what it can do.Ìý One night when he can't sleep, he looks at his window and sees a cat trapped by a dog.Ìý Roberto knocks the mouse off the window seal and it falls and the light makes this huge shadow cast by the paper mouse so that it scares away the dog.Ìý
The artwork makes the story worth it.Ìý It's a great bit of color, imagination and story telling.Ìý I recommend it.Ìý
Also, here is another book from 1974 - a very amazing year!
The artwork makes the story worth it.Ìý It's a great bit of color, imagination and story telling.Ìý I recommend it.Ìý
Also, here is another book from 1974 - a very amazing year!
February 22, 2020
I enjoyed this story about a boy who sees something unusual while he's trying to fall asleep. Beautiful illustrations go along with the imaginative story.
Read
July 6, 2014Great bed time story! i think it can help parents put their child to sleep as children who do not sleep easily can identify with the main character, I think the concept of the paper mouse and its shadow that scared the dog away was very witty and clever.
April 1, 2017
I LOVED THIS ONE.
August 31, 2016
Summary: A young boy, named Roberto, lays in bed restless. He can't sleep so he walks over to his windowsill where his paper mouse is sitting. He notices when he looks out the window, that Archie's cat is trapped by a dog. Roberto doesn't know what to do and he accidentally knocks over his paper mouse. As the mouse falls down, it's shadow gets bigger and bigger, scaring away the dog. Roberto and the paper mouse end up saving the day!
Grade level: K-4
Subject Area: Science. How shadows get bigger and smaller depending on the lighting.
Students who benefit from reading?: Students who like picture books and who are at the beginning stages of reading.
Small group: Yes.
Whole class use: Yes.
Related books in genre: Whistle For Willie, Peter's Chair, and A Letter To Amy
Multimedia connections:
Grade level: K-4
Subject Area: Science. How shadows get bigger and smaller depending on the lighting.
Students who benefit from reading?: Students who like picture books and who are at the beginning stages of reading.
Small group: Yes.
Whole class use: Yes.
Related books in genre: Whistle For Willie, Peter's Chair, and A Letter To Amy
Multimedia connections:
March 24, 2013
This book is a beautiful book that uses descriptive text and illustrations to tell a simple story about a young boy named Roberto, who after struggling to fall asleep gets distracted by the many interesting things around him. This book can be a perfect tool in teaching and inspiring children to incorporate rich and descriptive text into their writing. Not only are the words rich in meaning, but the illustrations can tell a story on their own as well. I feel that this book can be a perfect end of the day story or could be used to inspire the students to write in a different way.
March 16, 2011
Besides "A Snowy Day", I'd never read any of Ezra's work. The pictures are very detailed and reel you in automatically. I really felt like I was there in some of the pages! This was a good read about how the unlikeliest heroes can step in and save the day. I'd use this to motivate my students not to give themselves the short end of the stick. They all possess amazing qualities that are all their own.
November 13, 2021
This book did nothing that I expected. It occurs to me that Ezra Jack Keats is an underrated genius in this field. Sure, there's always talk of The Snowy Day and it's obvious, necessary significance. Yet, his other work, the more I encounter it proves him on par with Seuss and Sendak and Pinkney and Mayer--except better. (Well...Sendak reigns supreme. But, y'all know what I'm sayin.)
December 31, 2007
This book didn't get me until the page where it shows the apartment building from the outside windows, with one window lit up with crazy marbled paper, the text proclaiming, "And then someone started dreaming."
I now know why there is an Ezra Jack Keats award.
Beautiful.
I now know why there is an Ezra Jack Keats award.
Beautiful.
March 7, 2019
A simple yet heartwarming little story.
February 1, 2018
It's not a long story. It's simple, unique and puts a little chuckle on your lips.
Ages: 3 - 7
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
Ages: 3 - 7
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.
August 1, 2010
Roberto, the main character, makes a paper mouse in school. His neighbor, Amy, asks if the mouse can do anything. Roberto has no answer, but during the night, the paper mouse proves to be an unlikely hero. This is a picture book, and the characters (in true Keats style) make the book multicultural. The pictures in the apartment windows are STUNNING!
March 23, 2014
I have read many books by the talented Ezra Jack Keats. Dreams is among my favorite books by him. Most of his books take place in an urban setting. I really liked the artwork in Dreams. While everyone is sleeping in his tenement building, Roberto stays awake with his paper mouse. He looks out the window and notices there is trouble. It is a good short story that I do not want to spoil.
June 14, 2014
This is a very simple story about a little boy and his neighbor friends. They all go to bed but he can't go to sleep. Then he looks out the window at night and find something that no one else has seen. And his paper mouse he made became special after all... The illustrations were just as special as the story itself.
July 14, 2014
Never underestimate a paper mouse. This story shows how when staying up all night, there is no telling what you might see or who you can help! As an educator I can use this book to encourage creative writing. Who would've ever thought a paper mouse would save a cat from a dog! Your imagination is the limit.
July 11, 2015
I first read this book to my Jumpstart kids. It's not one of my favorite Keats books maybe because I do not really understand the purpose or meaning behind the book. I probably would not read this book in my class. One thing that I do like about this book is that his has great vocabulary that can be introduced to children.
September 10, 2015
A brief, cute story about how Roberto's paper mouse saves Archie's cat from a big scary dog at night. While it was all a dream, what is present are Keats imaginative collages - with beautiful dusk-like colors. I enjoy this story that brings in Peter's friend Amy, as she and Roberto talk to each other while leaning out of their bedroom windows in the high rise where they live.
May 23, 2010
Roberto made a paper mouse at school. All fall asleep and dream except for Roberto. When he leaves his bed, he sees that the dog is bothering the cat until his project mouse falls down. Roberto has a dream while he sleeps longer.
April 25, 2012
This book has so many possibilities. I can make a great story basket and use a flashlight to create shadows. You can use this in a lesson about shadows. Many opportunities for creative writing assignments.
Kindergarten through 4th grade.
Kindergarten through 4th grade.
August 17, 2009
Certainly not Keats's best, but still pretty great! The illustrations are just wonderful - he really could do amazing things with color and shading.
March 3, 2010
I remember having this book read to me as a child, and there was something about it that felt magical.
December 23, 2010
Beautiful illustrations in this lovely book. Cute ending!
May 7, 2014
Ezra Jack Keats returns us to his favorite neighborhood. This time, Robertos' mouse saves Archies' cats' life!
March 19, 2025
Sometimes when my daughter randomly picks books from the library I think to myself, “I could easily publish a children’s book�
October 24, 2019
I would read this book to first graders. It helps to remind students to use their imagination because it makes life more fun.
June 28, 2018
Dreams is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats, which tells a story about a boy named Roberto and how his paper mouse he made at school helped saved Archie's cat.
The text is rather simple and straightforward. It is beautifully written and has a childlike innocence to it, which seems rather effortless. The illustrations are wonderfully depicted and are a hybrid combination of acrylic paints and collage, which depicts the text incredibly well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. A boy named Roberto made a paper mouse at school and shows it to his friend Amy. She asks if the mouse did anything, but Roberto was unsure. They continue to converse until it was bedtime. However, Roberto couldn't sleep and took a look out the window to see Archie's cat trapped in a box by a large dog. Accidentally, Roberto knocked his paper mouse as it sails down, its shadow became so big that it scared the dog, saving Archie’s cat. Tired from the adventure he witness Roberto went to bed and had a morning lie-in.
All in all, Dreams is a wonderful children's book about a boy named Roberto, a paper mouse that had unexpected powers and in the process saved Archie’s cat from a dog. It is a quaint and wonderful bedtime story.
The text is rather simple and straightforward. It is beautifully written and has a childlike innocence to it, which seems rather effortless. The illustrations are wonderfully depicted and are a hybrid combination of acrylic paints and collage, which depicts the text incredibly well.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. A boy named Roberto made a paper mouse at school and shows it to his friend Amy. She asks if the mouse did anything, but Roberto was unsure. They continue to converse until it was bedtime. However, Roberto couldn't sleep and took a look out the window to see Archie's cat trapped in a box by a large dog. Accidentally, Roberto knocked his paper mouse as it sails down, its shadow became so big that it scared the dog, saving Archie’s cat. Tired from the adventure he witness Roberto went to bed and had a morning lie-in.
All in all, Dreams is a wonderful children's book about a boy named Roberto, a paper mouse that had unexpected powers and in the process saved Archie’s cat from a dog. It is a quaint and wonderful bedtime story.
November 18, 2012
Grade/Interest Level � Primary/ Learn to read
Reading Level: 60L Lexile
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Characters: Roberto, paper toy mouse
Setting: Urban apartment building window and stoop
POV: Narrator
This story is about a boy named Roberto who can’t seem to fall asleep at bed time. He gets out of bed to see the paper mouse he made at school on the window sill. Outside he sees a cat being cornered by a big angry dog. Roberto doesn’t know what to do and accidently knocks his paper mouse off the window sill. As it falls, it makes a big scary shadow on the side of the building and scares the snarly dog away. The cat is safe and sound and jumped back into Arhcie’s, Roberto’s friend, window. I would use this book in the classroom because the story is very suspenseful. It engages the reader and the accompanying illustrations are brightly colored and depict a familiar setting to students from an urban community. Also, the scenario of not being able to sleep at night is something that all students can relate to. The unexpected hero of the story provides a humorous twist that students will enjoy reading about.
Reading Level: 60L Lexile
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Main Characters: Roberto, paper toy mouse
Setting: Urban apartment building window and stoop
POV: Narrator
This story is about a boy named Roberto who can’t seem to fall asleep at bed time. He gets out of bed to see the paper mouse he made at school on the window sill. Outside he sees a cat being cornered by a big angry dog. Roberto doesn’t know what to do and accidently knocks his paper mouse off the window sill. As it falls, it makes a big scary shadow on the side of the building and scares the snarly dog away. The cat is safe and sound and jumped back into Arhcie’s, Roberto’s friend, window. I would use this book in the classroom because the story is very suspenseful. It engages the reader and the accompanying illustrations are brightly colored and depict a familiar setting to students from an urban community. Also, the scenario of not being able to sleep at night is something that all students can relate to. The unexpected hero of the story provides a humorous twist that students will enjoy reading about.
October 26, 2011
Connection to the Grade 4 Science Curriculum
4.2.12 Predict the location, shape, and size of a shadow based on the position of a light source relative to an object.
As the paper mouse falls the shadow on the wall gets larger and larger.
For each page that depicts the location of the mouse relative to the shadow students could guess and experiment to discover where the light source would have to be.
4.2.12 Predict the location, shape, and size of a shadow based on the position of a light source relative to an object.
As the paper mouse falls the shadow on the wall gets larger and larger.
For each page that depicts the location of the mouse relative to the shadow students could guess and experiment to discover where the light source would have to be.
September 19, 2017
I think this would be a great book for those children that are beginning to read independently. There is not much text on each page, big illustrations, and the story is very easy to follow. I also believe that children will relate to the main character, which is a child. The illustrations do a great job of telling the story along with the words, which would give children a better understanding of what is happening in the story, and aid with their reading comprehension.
May 24, 2017
this story is about a mouse and a boy. its a great book for 4-8 year olds. and for the little ones its a great bedtime story. the book is pretty long and has words that children will need help in but other then that its a good book. the book is 16 pages long and its colorful but the colors are pretty dark. but the book is really good for children to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
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