Dream Carver

by Diana Cohn, Amy Córdova (Illustrator)

Mateo and his father carve juguetes, small wooden animals his family sells at the fiestas in Oaxaca. But Mateo wants to carve much larger animals-goats as pink as bougainvillea with cactus-green speckles, and purple cats with corn-yellow spots. When he tells his father how he longs to bring these large animals to life, his father only scowls, but Mateo perseveres. Including an informative afterword on this vibrant Mexican art form, this colorful tale inspires readers of all ages to follow their passion.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations capture this family's life together. They are carvers who sell their small animals to tourists near their village. Mateo sees larger animals in his dreams and wants to carve those. His father tells him no as they barely have time to make the small ones they need to sell. Mateo carves and paints the larger ones in secret. The message of persevering comes through clearly as he first fails, thinks about giving up, and then heeds the animals in his dreams and keeps going.

[Olivia Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade: 2-4
Genre: Children's Fiction
Review: This book was an absolute joy to read. The illustrations are colorful and unique, and do a fantastic job of illustrating a book about traditional art, and a child's dreams. This book has some fairly dense phrasing, and would be great for students to read-along with the teacher (2nd grade) if they are not at a reading level in which they can read to themselves (late 3rd grade, 4th grade). This would be an excellent book to pair with lessons about Mexican culture and a fun art project!

Plot:
Mateo is a young Mexican boy living on a farm with his family. In addition to their farming tasks, Mateo's father carves juguetes, small wooden toys carved into beautiful animals that are then hand painted by his mother and sister. These toys are sold at village festivals, among music, food, drink, and fun. These festivals and carvings are a big part of Mateo's life. Mateo begins to observe all of the wonderful animals on his farm and in his community. This begins Mateos dream of changing these small juguetes into large, magnificent sculptures that capture the life of these animals. Mateo's father is not interested in this dream because it does not follow the traditions that he has been taught. Matter continues to dream and experiment with his idea, which sends him on an emotional and educational adventure!

[Angela Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dream Carver by Diana Cohn tells the story of a young boy, Mateo, and his father. The father creates and sells small figurines for a living. Mateo dreams of creating larger and more colorful woodwork, but his father disapproves. Mateo continues to dream and creates his dream creatures. In the end his wonderful new creatures end up selling and he becomes a great success! The illustrations in this book were very colorful as well and seemed to go along well with the Mexican culture portrayed in the story. This book also incorporated some spanish words and expressions throughout the story and this also contributes to the books use as a cultural study of the Mexican culture. This book could also be used for a lesson on inspiration in writing. People can be inspired by a lot of different things just like Mateo was inspired by his dreams!

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures are definitely culturally specific techniques, from villages in the south of Mexico. The pages are also really glossy, which makes a glare on the page. There is also a chaos aspect as most of the book takes place in his dreamland and not suppose to be unified. The drawings are also flat and are highlighted in thick black, which is similar to the expressionism style of art. The colors do contrast with when he is in the real world and dream world, as the real world has earthy tones and the dream world is bright colors. The bright colors come into the real world when he takes an idea from his dream and recreates it.

[Fisal Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age:
Grades 5-12

Genre:
Fiction/informational

Diversity:
Latino perspective

Illustrations:
Colored illustrations depicting characters and their thoughts. Lots of turquoise and yellows depicting animals.

Personal response:
I learned a great deal about the Oaxacan wood carving that is done in Mexicos' mountainous region by poor villagers.

Curricular or programming connections:
In a library, displays would be great to use of some of the Oaxacan carvings.

[Amanda Zell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mateo's dream animals make for interesting art that sells like wildfire.

This historical fiction book would be a wonderful read-aloud when introducing some type of multi-cultural or Mexico unit. Woodcarving is a big thing in Mexico, so therefore it could be very possible that this story would have happened. The bright pictures also keep the Mexican culture alive in this book.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gracefully-told story of a Merxican family and the young Mateo's skill and talent for carving wooden figures is well-matched to the densely-colored illustrations and book design. This book includes Spanish expressions, an intense sense of place and family, and is an example of the power of imagination to change lives.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was featured on Between the Lions. The episode focused on art and dreams, especially how dreams can inspire art. The animal cravings were an interesting look into the character's culture, but if the book stated exactly which Spanish speaking culture that was, I missed it.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dream Carver
Cohn, Diana
a little boy learns a new way to make his traditional art form that brings the attention of the town, and his father

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibrant illustrations, containing clever details upon closer inspection. A culturally rich story with genuine appeal.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. The colors just burst off the pages. Great story too.