What if there lives a Dream Keeper…
… and when you’re scared of shadows,
the Dream Keeper sees.
A small child who’s afraid of the dark. A darling turtle with a teeny-weeny lantern on a wooden stick, rowing a boat, carrying a jar full of light-dreams…
After the sublime endpapers, two single pages filled with intricate detail of each life – the child’s and the Dream Keeper’s - make up the first double spread.
And from here, every part of this book is deeply thoughtful and quite delicious: A dark, lurking shadow, a mission, a scary mishap, a caring community, a solution.
The idea of a Dream Keeper is in itself, beautiful, compelling and reassuring. In Walker’s hands it becomes a masterwork. The images are literally breathtaking with layers of colour, meaning and texture - all meticulously crafted in traditional media to combine and become a story for the ages - and for all ages.
In many ways, The Dream Keeper defies traditional picture book conventions and treads its own path. Text is squeezed into the tiniest areas. Pictures, outlines and negative spaces have their own particular dynamic.
Darks are swirled, pixilated and tapered, to become things of mystery and movement. Lights are dripped and blobbed and spread, to become things of hope and illumination.
Nuance and subtlety abound. And yet, the overall message of the story is clear, strong and firm: that it’s possible to overcome fear. That in this world, there is always light, and that together we can look after each other.
The Dream Keeper is stunningly beautiful and beautifully stunning.
It offers reassurance and hope.
I am in love!
Title: The Dream Keeper
Author/Illustrator: Anna Walker
Publisher: Walker $27.99
Publication Date: 1 May, 2026
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781529520682
For Ages: 3 - 7
Type: Picture Book
