Willy the Dreamer

This children's book has more than meets the eye. While the book itself on the surface is a clever treatment to a child-aged gorilla's fantasies of having adventures flying, exploring and morphing into monsters, there is definitely a deeper level. The treatment of gorillas and bananas is so thorough- a mermaid's tail becomes a banana, a hot air balloon becomes a gorilla's face. You could read this book over and over again to count the secret bananas, and also, for older readers, to compare them to great works of art in many mediums, including those by Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin, Lewis Carroll, Norman Rockwell, Maurice Sendak and more.

This is one of those splendid books that offers something to every age group. Willy the monkey, like all of us, has rather bizzare and equally fascinating dreams. Through Browne's brilliant illustrations, we see Willy's awesome visions - so whimsical with the hidden references towards works of art, storybook characters, even movie stars. There are bananas slipped in everywhere - from noses, to tails, to microphones, even in the grin of the Cheshire Cat. Hilarious! In my opinion, this is what makes a phenomenal picture book - one that speaks to all, from the very young to the young at heart. This is truly a work of art!

Don't be fooled by the reading label of this book, 4-8; the real reading label, or shall we say the enjoying label is 4 to 100 because this book is an homenage to culture on the 20th century. Willy is a little monkey (Anthony Browne's alter ego?), with all the vulnerabilities of a sensible child(you must read the four previous Willy's books), but in Willy the dreamer he doesn't have to face the problems that a sensible child must face in his every day's life, in Willy the dreamer our heroe just falls asleep in his confortable chair to be the king of rock and roll; a character of a favorite movie; or of a favorite fairy tale; a sumo wrestler; or just a father. If you're an art lover you will love the homenage to great artists of the century: Magritte, Dalí, De Chirico. Don't worry if you're not an art conossieur because this book has so many readings, so many hidden messages, so many bananas, so many dreams that it can fit any child and grownup imagination. If you want to encourage your child to be a dreamer, you must give him this book. If you're a dreamer yourself, this surely will be the book for you.

Different is good! Willy dreams of being everything from Elvis to a Sumo wrestler. There are so many different things to look at in Anthony Browne's books, it's almost a shame to read them quickly. I do so at our library's storytime but the real way to read this book is laying on the floor with a friend. I showed this book to my 20 year old son yesterday, now he wants a copy. I told him to check it out, and you should too!