Starred review from March 6, 2006
Lowry's (The Giver
) spellbinding story centers on a clever, curious young dream-giver. Littlest One is learning the nocturnal task performed by her kind, which entails gently touching objects belonging to a human, thereby gathering "memories, colors, words once spoken, hints of scents and the tiniest fragments of forgotten sound" and combining them to create dreams. The most challenging task she must master is to "bestow" the dream on a sleeping human. Under the tutelage of a caring, patient elder, Littlest begins to hone her skills in the home of a lonely 73-year-old woman who takes in John, an angry, unhappy foster child. Through Littlest's gathering process and John's resultant dreams, as well as through the dreams of John's estranged mother, Lowry poignantly reveals the boy's sad past. Some of the novel's most moving scenes center on the growing trust between John and his foster mother, as his bitterness and low self-esteem begin to abate. Littlest demonstrates her tenacity and talent when she successfully counters the curse of the four-legged Sinisteeds, renegade dream-givers who have been "consumed by the dark side" and who inflict powerful nightmares on their victims, including John. Lyrical, richly descriptive prose ushers readers into a fascinating parallel world inhabited by appealingly quirky characters. While she gathers fragments, Littlest demonstrates an unusually delicate touch that enables her to gain deeper insight—a gossamer touch that earns her the name in the title. With her exquisite, at times mesmerizing writing, Lowry displays a similar skill. Ages 10-up.
July 24, 2006
Lowry's poetic, fanciful story of tiny, elfish "dream-givers" who put nighttime imaginings into the heads of human sleepers is not an ideal choice for audio. The many lyrical, detailed descriptions of the dream-givers gathering "fragments" of memory by touching objects and then weaving them into dreams become overlong and slow-moving when read aloud. Likewise, Twomey's soft, soothing voice fits the subject matter, but may well lull young listeners off to dreamland. Twomey does an excellent job of distinguishing her voice for the different characters, particularly an angry, abused boy and the kind elderly woman who fosters him temporarily, both of whom are strengthened by the healing dreams they are sent. Overall, however, this is a less-than-satisfying listen. Ages 10-up.
October 1, 2006
Gr 4-7 -A lonely old woman and John, a troubled boy, connect and gain renewed feelings of optimism and friendship in this lovely story by Lois Lowry (Walter Lorraine Books, 2006). The title character, initially named Littlest One, is a dream-giverone of the tiny creatures who bring good dreams to humans and animals. The inquisitive creature is first taught by Fastidious but drives the cranky teacher mad with her constant questions and humorous hijinks. Thin Elderly takes over Littlests training and they successfully concentrate on the old woman and the boy. By touching objects in the house that belong to each character, the dream-givers absorb happy memories associated with those items and bring these remembrances into the peoples dreams. The dream-givers polar opposites, the terrifying Sinisteeds, are after John, who is in foster care because of an abusive home life. It is up to Littlest to protect John from the potentially permanently damaging nightmares that he is given by the Sinisteeds. Anne Twomey is a superb narrator for this imaginative and dreamy story. She easily conveys the old womans patience and gradual understanding of what the boy has experienced in his unhappy life. Listeners can hear the gradual lessening of Johns anger in Twomeys voice. Her pacing is superb, and she has a wonderful ability to convey the lightness and yet gravely vital personalities of the dream-givers. An excellent recording of an intriguing novel.B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Library, Sag Harbor, NY
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.