Olu's Dream

I was looking for nice books with black children for my 3 year old son because i realised i have none and want him to see faces like his own in his bedtime stories. This is lovely, it shows a happy, imaginative child having an amazing dream which he then shares with his dad. Just be warned there are some monsters in this book so be ready to have the 'monsters are just pretend' conversation with your child. Beautifully illustrated. Highly recommended.

Fantastic book! Inspires little ones to use their imaginations even when they are sleeping. Well written and wonderfully diverse. Very pleased to have beautiful pictures of brown boys.

I love this book as much as my son does. It is one of the few books that I have seen that shows a boy of African descent simply using his gifts of imagination and simply being a child.The illustrations are a great part of what makes it so appealing to me. I like the visual references in the book: the London Eye and Big Ben depicted in the background illustrations, the dual African and Asian heritage of Olu, Olu being raised in a creative household (the opening page shows the potagonist's father in his art studio amidst books, etc.) It never belabors the point of ethnicity and culture but at the same time celebrates it.I also see this as a nice companion to Faith Ringgold's classic, Tar Beach.