Dream With Sesame Street

PreS-Gr 1--Familiar and beloved characters from Sesame Street, including Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster, offer the very young encouragement and advice through simple rhyming text. Nelson's colorful imagery and Hill's positive messages throughout create a platform in which parents can have an age-appropriate conversation with children about their dreams and aspirations themselves and drive home the message that sometimes we have to encounter difficulties in reaching our goals. Positive self-talk is sprinkled throughout the story ("You're amazing and smart in all that you do."). VERDICT A colorful, engaging picture book that beautifully illustrates self-worth, goal-setting, and what to do when one encounters difficulty along the way.--Katie Callahan, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD

Readers will follow their dreams when familiar Sesame Street characters, in dreamy pastels against faint outlined scenes, cheer them on.The journey begins with defining that dream ("A dream can be big or a dream can be small. / What matters the most is to have dreams at all. / Ambitious, creative, outrageous, concrete, / or close to your heart, something simple and sweet") and taking that scary first step. Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Zoe offer counsel on dealing with failure ("remember you grow when you get through bad days") and rejection ("Even if others may not think it's best, / the road to success is your own special quest" and "You always can ask a good friend for advice, / and working together sure does feel nice!"). And of course, Cookie Monster knows "cookies and milk sweep the gray clouds away / and bring you right back to a bright sunny day." No matter what, Bert and Ernie remind readers "if your dream seems as if it will never come true, / keep in mind you're surrounded by those who love you." A closing wish "that all of your dreams will come true" makes this a very positive rhyming read-aloud even if there are a few near rhymes and lines where the meter isn't perfect.Encouraging the dreamer in every reader. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.