Plunk's Dreams

by Helen V. Griffith, Susan Condie Lamb (Illustrator)

A young boy muses about the kinds of dreams his dog, Plunk, has and whether they are dreams about space, camping out, chasing cats, or just about having dinner

36 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1990

About the author

In Her Own Words...

"What I like about writing books is that I can sit and think about things that most adults never think about, and it's okay because I'm a children's book writer.

I can imagine what my dog is dreaming about or what she and my cat discuss when I'm not around. I can design a time machine or make up a tall tale, and nobody says, "Grow up, Helen"--because I'm a children's book writer.

I was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and I work in the family business. We're distributors of roofing and siding materials, and I've never yet gotten a story inspiration from that. Most of my ideas seem to come from dogs I have known.

My grandfather was part of our family and used to read to me a lot-the Sunday funny papers, turn-of-the-century primers, and The Arabian Nights. When I could read for myself, I read fairy tales, dog and horse stories, and comic books by the dozen.

I started writing poems and the beginnings of novels by the age of seven or eight, but I was forty before I thought about writing for publication.

For fun, I like reading (especially Anthony Trollope) and birdwatching, and I've just started learning to play old-time fiddle!"

Reviews

[Hannah Grosse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't super in love with this book, but still it wasn't bad. The idea behind having a boy imagine the dreams of his dog is promising. And while many of the aspects of this story are basic and simple, it is kind of fun to get inside John's head as he tries to figure out his furry friend. His ideas of the dog's dreams are interesting, too. Also, I think half of the personality of this book is the fact that the dog has a name, and that his name is Plunk.