Hành Trình Tới Xứ Sở Trong Mơ

by Emily Winfield Martin, Lê Quỳnh Hoa (Translator), Cao Việt Hùng (Translator)

This companion to Dream Animals celebrates the imagination and will have children dreaming both day and night! Emily Winfield Martin's newest picture book shows readers that letting their imaginations run free will lead them into fantastical day dreams. Whether cloud-gazing or wandering through a museum, reading a book or playing in a tide-pool, the children in this picture book find themselves in places inhabited by magical creatures such as dragons, unicorns, griffins, and jackalopes. A whimsical rhyme accompanies the dream-worthy illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Poetry, Animals, Fiction, Dragons

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2014

About the author

Emily Winfield Martin makes paintings, books, and other things. When she was small, she spent every moment drawing, reading, dressing rabbits in fancy clothes, and having many peculiar daydreams. When she grew up, she began to illustrate those peculiar daydreams, and after college, she created a cottage industry called The Black Apple, which sells all manner of art and etceteras.

She works in a tiny nook of a studio filled with old children's books, wind-up toys, and stacks of fabric. Her work is inspired by fairy tales, music, myths, carnivals, children's books from the late 19th through mid 20th century, her favorite films, and autobiography.

She likes bears and sea monsters and seashell pink poppies. She lives and works among the giant fir trees of Portland, OR.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/theblackapple

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kind of companion for the author's night time book, Dream Animals, one of Donovan's favorite picture books by artist and illustrator Martin. The idea is not that original--that ordinary things become the spark to the imagination, to daydreaming--but it's really, really well done, not art and writing.

"You don't need to search for secret doors
Or magic words to speak
Your imaginings will carry you
Anywhere you seek."

Yeah, clouds as dragons, but don't get too cynical about that game, old folks!

"Is it the wind that moves the clouds?
Or a dragon as she flies?"

"Is it the whispering of pages . . .
Or the sound of griffin wings?"

Oh, I know, like me, some of you rustled your pages to see if you could still hear them whispering?

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noted Etsy artist and children's author Emily Winfield Martin, who made her picture-book debut with Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey , returns in this companion volume, this time exploring daytime dreams, and the animals who escort young children to the realms of fantasy and enchantment. As with the earlier volume, the text here is poetic - "They say there are no dragons left / And that's the way it seems. / To find them you must visit / The land of waking dreams" - and the artwork fantastic. Dragons, phoenix, jackalopes, unicorns and griffins all appear, each one a steed for a lucky child embarking on a magical voyage of make-believe...

As with its predecessor, I enjoyed Day Dreamers quite a bit, finding the gentle text engaging and the beautiful artwork immensely appealing. Martin opens up a world of fairy-tale and fantasy for young children with her lovely illustrations. I enjoy her depiction of magical creatures, and the connections she draws between real-life events such as visiting the museum, and the flights of fancy they can inspire in young children. I was particularly taken with the scene in which two girls see an image of a unicorn - clearly inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries to be found in the Cloisters Museum, here in New York City - and then find themselves riding unicorns through a wood. Recommended to young children who love fairy-tales and stories of magic, as well as to anyone who enjoyed Martin's first foray into the picture-book world.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, to have the imagination of a child again . . .

Thankfully there are people like this author/artist to remind us what it was like.

A lovely book to be read over and over again by those who can still dream.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOODNESS I LOVED THIS BOOK!

It gave me chills. The lyrical writing was sweet and had a great rhythm, the illustrations were just as soft and smooth.

This book is all about using your imagination and going to magical places but what makes this really cool is that it introduces children to other types of mythological creatures. Every kid knows about dragons and unicorns but do they know about phoenixes, jackalopes, and griffins?

Awesome Awesome Awesome

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really a magical little book, give way to imagination!

[Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whimsical rhymes and illustrations, one of my favorite bedtime books to read to my daughter.

[Little Ducky]

I liked looking at the pictures in this story. There are a lot of make-believe creatures I had never heard of before, but now I know I can imagine them if I want to. 🐉 This is another book my mom likes because it's so restful and dreamy. When I get bigger, I will know if I like it a lot, too. 👶

[Camie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion book to Dream Animals. These are beautiful children's books.

[Marissa Marquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Day Dreamers: A Journey of Imagination by Emily Winfield Martin is a beautifully illustrated tale of the power and the journey of imagination. The book is an imagined or “make believe” story and includes magical and supernatural elements such as dragons, phoenix, jacka-lopes, unicorns and griffins. I enjoy how simple the idea behind the story is - let imagination take control and you can have wonderful adventures. I would say it is quite an easy read and it suddenly brought such a warm feeling to my heart while reading. As I have grown up, as most do, I have lost the power of imagination but after reading this book I can happily say and I feel like it has returned. This book opens a portal for pure enjoyment and escape especially if you choses to read it. For children, the book can easily be used to analyze their own power of imagination, creativity and their own sense of wonder. This book displays using imaginative powers in different settings as well - looking up at the sky and finding objects in the clouds, the beach, a carousel, and a museum. The power of imagination is immense, this is very apparent throughout the story. Those working with children should encourage this type of play as much as possible to give their kids the opportunity to grow and learn through it as it will help their kids develop the creativity and problem-solving skills they'll use as adults. For such a simple idea, this book really drove me to say WOW when I was finished reading. Martin did such a great job as far as the literacy goes - each illustration is detailed yet so pleasing to the eye, the colors are bright but not jumping off the page, the playful rhymes keep a gentle flow throughout the book and we see different drawn characters on multiple pages. It is such a pure and heart-warming book to me: there's no villains/heroes/explanation of reality, it is really just about letting your imagination and sense of wonder take hold and let you travel to a magical fantastical world.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved everything.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such beautiful work of art! I especially loved the rhyming texts.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful!❤️

[Austria Kovalenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book for day dreamers 😊

[Kennedy Salts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so beautifully illustrated and written - I absolutely adore it. My daughter loves it too and brings it to me to read at least once a day.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the wise that hold on to their imagination, long after childhood has ended. This is a lovely book focusing on where the imagination of a child can lead. To find wonderful, magical creatures, simply close your eyes and visit the land of waking dreams. As the author states, "And the ordinary world will never guess where you have gone."

Emily Winfield Martin is one of my favorite illustrators. I highly recommend that you take a journey through her lovely words and images.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Day Dreamers, the companion to Dream Animals, Emily Martin once again enchants readers with lush illustrations and soothing, rhythmic text. Day Dreamers pairs fanciful and imaginative creatures with a message that creativity and wonder are to be wholeheartedly embraced and encouraged. Breathtaking.

[Danielle Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book,illustrations are beautiful! The wording however seems to be off. Didn't make sense, or if the author was trying to have to book rhyme wasn't successful.

[Rowan Lehikko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it sssssssssooooooooooo cute

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do believe Emily Winfield Martin is one of the greatest children's author/illustrator out there today. This book about dragons, unicorns, and griffins delights its readers with poetic fluidity.

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful. Gorgeous, magical, fantasy art plays across the page in this celebration of the power of imagination.

[CHARISSA MITCHELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book has beautiful poetic language that takes the reader through many different ways that they can turn things that happen around them into imaginations, along with general ideas about imagination. You can either simply imagine whatever you want, or things from the your imaginary world can be inspired from things in the real world. You can imagine that the force that moves the clouds is really a dragon. You can look into the sea and imagine that the sea creatures fly. You can imagine that the bones and artifacts in a museum are the real creatures. You can imagine that "Jock-a-loping paws may fall" in a rain shower. You can imagine that the works in an art gallery are about two unicorns meeting two friends. You can imagine that the noise pages make are the noise of a griffin's wings. Most of all, the wonderful things about imagination are that you do not have to go through a secret passage to get into the world of imagination, and any characters you imagine will wait for you to return if you must leave temporarily to go into the real world.

My Thoughts: This book was absolutely lovely with its beautiful illustrations, poetic language, and encouragement to the readers to use their imaginations. Personally, I love this book because, as a child, I day-dreamed and imagined things all the time, and it was one of the most enjoyable and special experiences. However, I do realize that the idea of letting your imaginations run wild has some balancing principles with it: such as making sure 1) that you are also living in the real world as needed, 2) that you are doing things, whether via imagination or physical work, to serve God rather than simply entertain yourself and others, and 3) that you are imagining clean, wholesome, meaningful, Christ-focused things.

Connection to Teaching: One, when teaching reading, I can teach children to imagine what they are reading about in their heads, and I can invite them to even make up their own stories or theories or connections to their world from the stories. Two, in general, I can encourage children to use their valuable gift of imagination and creativity, and to use it the right way to create Christ-like, God-honoring stories, works of art, plays, architectural structures, and more.

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations are the focus of this hodgepodge collection of daydreams. Imaginations must be cultivated, but dragons and unicorns aren’t for everybody. If that’s your child’s jam, you’ll find plenty to love about this. For me, I just kept thinking about all the dangers these children encounter in their dreams - heights, beasts, deep waters, fire, and dinosaurs, just to name a few.

Moral: Dream a little dream - even during daytime hours. (A much-needed moral, given this girl’s propensity to try to skip naps.)

Length: The book is the right length, but the pictures have a lot of depth to them. So slow down and check them out, even if they don’t come together in a narrative of any sort.

Favorite Line: “You don’t need to search for secret doors or magic words to speak. Your imaginings will carry you anywhere you seek.”

Overall impression: Don’t think of this book as a story, but as an artist’s canvas. If you see it as a work in progress, you won’t be as disappointed.

[Cheyenne Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Day Dreamers: A Journey of Imagination" by Emily Winfield Martin is about children that allow their imaginations to take them on a journey in their day dreams. The children play among magical creatures in engaging settings such as tide-pools, museums, and magical forests. The illustrations of this books are very captivating for the reader, and help set the tone for this fantasy text. I would use this book in a Kindergarten classroom while covering the following Georgia standard of excellence: ELAGSEKRI4: With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. I would have the students identify the names of the magical creatures that might be unfamiliar to them (such as a phoenix, unicorn, and griffin) and use the illustrations to answer questions about these magical creatures.

[Altea Bolger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards: N/A

Grade Level(s): PreK-2nd

Summary: This book is about children discover magical creatures through their imagination.

Review: This book is beautifully illustrated and would definitely be an exciting book for children as it questions whether the normal things, we encounter are actually mythical creatures, and how if we just use our imagination, we can encounter them.

In-classroom uses: This is a great book to use for class read aloud and could be used for a fun activity such as drawing and describing a mythical creature that each student will use their imagination to create.

[Demi Bradberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Day Dreamers if a fun, fantasy filled children’s book. This book is about a young child who uses their imagination to travel to magical places. I thought this is a very good book to read to a younger audience for them to explore the different mythical creatures other than dragons and unicorns. A fun teaching idea that you could use this for this book in the classroom would be to do a read aloud and have the students make up their own mystical creature and have them write a couple of sentences explaining what it is and what it does.

[Taylor Brickley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about children that have a brilliant imagination. They come up with many different fictional creatures, including a dragon that they ride on in the clouds. I liked this story because the illustrations were great and it think it helps remove the limitations that children have on their imaginations. I would use this book in my classroom to teach students that they can have imaginations and that having imaginations can make a writing much better.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the characters are using their imagination to dream up various different settings and situations where they are surrounded by mythical creatures. The illustrations in this book are very high quality and detailed, which will keep students intrigued. I would use this book in a first-grade classroom to discuss magical characters vs. realistic characters. The students would really enjoy the magic elements of this book as well as the use of their own imagination.

[Ketutar Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute little story.
The illustrations were beautiful but slightly unfinished.
(I have a little of the same problem with my illustrations. I draw the central image and ignore the backgrounds, even though I adore artists who actually care about framing the central image and putting in small surprises in the background. Also, there are a few artists who can get away with just the central image, but they play with the composition much more than Emily Winfield Martin and me.)

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd probably give it five stars. Rowan would give it four. In time, I suspect he might up it to five as well. Lovely stuff. He's way into the dragon and the clouds right now. This is imaginative, fantastical fun, with illustrations evoking a different visual era closer to my own childhood than Rowan's. So it reminded me of being a kid and getting lost in worlds of fantasy and wonder. That's a special thing not easy to do. Very special.

[Kayla - the.bookish.mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. I’m a fantasy lover and seeing all these magical and mythical creatures in a children’s book was so enjoyable. My little one loved the illustrations! I also love that this book focuses so much on imagination and childhood wonder. I also liked that the story made reading seem magical because it really is, and I love the idea of fostering that for concept in childhood. Such a great read!