Parents' Guide to

Someone Builds the Dream

By Mandie Caroll, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Lovely tribute to tradespeople has great art, musical text.

Book Lisa Wheeler Picture Book 2021
Someone Builds the Dream Poster Image

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What's the Story?

SOMEONE BUILDS THE DREAM opens on a scene in which several tractor operators stand in front of their machines, looking out across an undeveloped riverfront landscape on the outskirts of a city, ready to prep the land for something new. Next we see an architect working on a blueprint for a building, then loggers logging, workers planing the wood, and a foundation and beams being set. The book proceeds in this manner, the focus moving from one project to another, featuring all the skilled workers who bring to life the dreams of architects, engineers, sculptors, scientists, and so forth. In these pages, we see, among other things, a bridge, an amusement park, a wind farm, even the very book readers are reading transform from just an idea to near-complete reality, thanks to the many skilled workers along the way.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This gem of a book wows on all fronts as it gently encourages kids to appreciate the skilled trades. The gorgeous cover art of Someone Builds the Dream grabs the reader's attention first. A woman in hardhat stands on an outcropping, back to the reader, a large wrench slung over her shoulder. She's looking at a newly constructed bridge, framed by a cloud-flecked sky, tree-covered mountains, and a meandering river. Her gaze invites the reader to admire the bridge with same wonder and respect that is in her stance. Long's cover art sets the tone for the beautifully drawn pages that follow, and the text sings with a buoyant rhythm, pleasing rhymes, and the repeated reminder that "someone has to build the dream."

Definitely read this one aloud to fully enjoy the musicality of Wheeler's wonderful writing. Young readers will especially delight in the final product that gets "built" — the very book they are reading! All these delights work together to communicate the potent message to remember the hard-working people who create the physical world in which we live, learn, work, and play. This pitch-perfect picture book will please little makers (and their adults) for years to come.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the various careers and types of work featured in Someone Builds the Dream. Which jobs seemed the most interesting? Which kind of work seemed the hardest to do? Could you imagine yourself doing any of the careers shown in this book when you grow up?

  • What is something you would build if you had all the materials and help you needed?

  • Talk about the illustrations and the words in the book. Did anything surprise you about the pictures or the story? What did hearing (or reading) the words sound like to you (poetry? music? a speech?). How do the art and the words support each other?

Book Details

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