The Dreamkeeper

Robert Ingpen is a venerable Australian author/ illustrator of over 100 books, the majority children's or picture books. He has a phalanx of awards; the pointy end being the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration. Robert is the only Aussie to have won this distinction. Penguin's MinEdition (their caps, not mine) imprint has re-released Ingpen's The Dreamkeeper for a new generation of children, ten years after the first edition. The book takes the form of a letter from Ingpen to his granddaughter, Alice. It is a soliloquy free from dialogue, and quite unlike the wham-bam-hook-`em-on-the-first-page-or-else helterskelter of other picture books. Ingpen builds a gentle rhythm that parents may appreciate. After all, isn't the job of night-time stories to make children sleepy? The Dreamkeeper, very much a blend of holy men from many cultures, is charged with capturing the goblins and imps that cause nightmares and threaten the dreams of children. He does so with the assistance of his sister, her magic licorice and his faithful goblin helper, Tally. But the story is just an adjunct to the stunning pencil and watercolour illustrations, which should delight most children and reward hours of careful study. The amazing detail puts many other picture books to shame. Younger readers will need help, and older readers who enjoy a robust story may grow bored with the pace. But there is a large audience of children, freshly Ringed into believing `in a world just around a corner of your mind', who will love this. And for children suffering from night terrors, fewer books come more highly recommended.

This book is a bit of a puzzle to me. Back in 1998 a publisher called "Star Bright Books" (still in operation) published Robert Ingpen's stunning dreamscape of a picture book, "The Dreamkeeper". Usually a book only gets one life in this world. "The Dreamkeeper" seems to have two. I received a review copy of the book from Minedition, a colorful division of the Penguin Young Readers Group. It appears that "The Dreamkeeper" was to be republished by the eclectic publisher in March of 2006. I say this with some confusion, though, since nowhere on the minedition website is "The Dreamkeeper" even mentioned. Robert Ingpen is brought up more than once, but that shouldn't be surprising. He's an amazing fella. So with much scratching of the head, I turn to this book to review it. And if explaining to you whether or not this puppy will ever get published is hard, imagine how much harder it might be to describe a book that reads more like the flitting shadows of the subconscious rather than a straightforward picture book. I greatly enjoyed Ingpen's ode to our nocturnal meanderings. Just don't ask me how I'd classify it in my library. The book acts as a letter between author Robert Ingpen and his granddaughter Alice Elisabeth. In it, he begins by explaining that there is a man who "collects dreams and keep them safe. He is called The Dreamkeeper". With a collection of charms and lures all sewn to his jacket and variety of baskets and cages hanging from his person, The Dreamkeeper is always ready to catch the bad dreams "when they try to escape to become real". Explanations are made as to how one goes about getting a dragon and the best way to trick a witch. The Dreamkeeper lives in a pigeonhouse with his sister and a goblin named Tally. Tally has a remote control that allows him to defend himself (and brother, trust me when I say that you've never seen a remote control like this one). Then we get to see the all-powerful Dreamtree and Ingpen lets loose with a stunning array of mythological, nightmarish, fabulous, and fantastical creatures and characters. Look fast and you might see Pinocchio running beside a wolf who paces in front of the White Rabbit from "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland". Turn another page and scholarly monkeys write in books, trolls strangle snakes, Long John Silver's on the loose, fairies dance just out of reach, and so many images hit your eye at once that you don't know where to look for a long long time. By the end, The Dreamkeeper walks by himself. "Safe traveling, good dreaming, and God bless, -Grandpa". Perhaps the fact that there are so many scenes and characters in the Dreamtree from Lewis Carroll's books can be traced in part to the fact that this book has been written for a girl named Alice. Part of what I liked about this story was that in some ways, Ingpen IS the Dreamkeeper himself. You never see his character's face, which allows him to be anybody. And Ingpen certainly does capture the bad drea

This book was given to my eldest daughter from her grandmother. All of my children instantly fell in love with the story and the pictures. Over the years I have had to read that story to all three of my children's kindergartden, first, and second grade classes. It is a favorite with every student that I read it to and I get a great many calls from parents to get the title and where they can get a copy. It has become a tradition in our family that this book is read on St. Patricks day every year. My eldest daughter is now 13 and she still loves to hear and even to read the story. I now have to buy a new copu because the old one is falling apart from so many readings. This is a great story for anyone that believes in the creatures of fey, young or old and it even helped my youngest daughter with her night terrors. As long as she believed that the Dreamkeeper was on the job, she slept peacefully and still does. She even sometimes leaves him a snack just as she would for Santa and the Easter Bunny. After all don't we all need something to believe in with everything that goes bump in the night? I highly recomend this book to everyone, not just children. I find myself believing in the Dreamkeeper as much as my children.