Review: Hank Has a Dream

Hello, lovely people! I've got a delightful book to share with you today, one totally out of the norm from what I usually get asked to review. This one is called Hank Has a Dream, by Rebecca Dudley. 

The unique thing about this book is truly the artwork. It's not drawn, not painted, not doodled, but photographed. And photographed in an amazing way--she creates the miniature world that Hank (an adorable bear) lives in, from trees and bridges, to birds and grass, and then sets a miniature scene that is photographed. It reminds me of looking into a Viewmaster (remember those? I still have mine. I used to love that thing). 

Every one of those leaves was created in miniature just for this scene. I mean...geez. It blows my mind to think of the time it took to create this book.

I do love the way this book is laid out. When Hank is telling his little bird friend about his dream, the photo on the left shows his little reenactment--

While the photo on the right shows what his dream looked like--

And look at this adorable little face--

Even the frontispiece is cute, and reminds me a little of Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood--

About two seconds after I closed this I hopped on Amazon and ordered the first book, Hank Finds an Egg. Photographed in the same way, this story lacks words, but the photos do a wonderful job of telling the story. 

 

Plus you get to see how Hank becomes friends with that adorable little bird with whom he shares his dream :)

I know we're not supposed to talk about Christmas yet, but if you've got some little ones to buy gifts for (books make excellent gifts) these would be delightful. You could keep your kids busy with these too--for those of writing age they could write their own story. They could create their own story scenes to photograph and write about. For family reading, the kids could take part in telling the story by taking on the roles of the characters in the photos. So many opportunities to take these books further than just flipping the pages (and that's not a common thing in children's literature--so many things are contrived or forced or written just to sell instead of to provide a quality reading experience).

I'd like to say "But you don't have to take my word for it..." a la Reading Rainbow, but I don't have any kids to segue to, so you will  have to take my word for it.

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book at no charge in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience. For my complete disclosure policy, click here.