Review: The Dreams I’ll Dream Tonight

The Dreams I’ll Dream Tonight

Author: Sarah Ruhl

Illustrator: Sally Deng

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025

ISBN: 9781534453296 (hardcover)
9781534453302 (EPUB)

$24.99 CAD (hardcover)
$14.99 CAD (EPUB)

40 pages

Ages: 4 to 8 years old

A young child gets ready to go to sleep by going over the good things he’ll dream of instead of the things that scare him. Each page contains one line of text, making the book’s sweeping, fantastical illustrations the focus. Deng uses one art style to depict the real world, then switches to pencil crayon drawings to depict the brightly coloured dream setting. It ends with the child being woken by his mother, emphasising parental love. The last page of the book is for the reader to fill out themselves, encouraging them to put into words the things they want to dream of instead of the things that scare them. While the last page is not suitable for library use, the book overall would make a good addition to a children’s collection.