Dream Days

By Kenneth Grahame

Book Overview

Dream Days (1898) is a collection of children's stories by Kenneth Grahame. It was published as a sequel to The Golden Age (1895), a collection of semi-autobiographical stories reflecting on the nature of childhood and the strange, distant lives of adults. Although less popular than The Wind in the Willows (1908), which would go on to become not only a defining work of Edwardian English literature, but one of the most popular works of children's fiction in the world, Dream Days features "The Reluctant Dragon," one of Grahame's most enduring short works of fiction.

Carrying on the themes and concerns of The Golden Age, the author reflects on his youth among elders who exemplified Victorian values of stoicism and quiet decency. In these stories of innocence and experience, he recalls the games they played, the places they discovered, and the legends they made of the normal, the boring, and the everyday wonders of an old world seen through young eyes. "The Reluctant Dragon," the centerpiece of Dream Days, is a story about a young boy who discovers a wise, poetry-loving dragon while exploring the Berkshire Downs near his home in Oxfordshire. Against all appearances, the two sensitive souls become fast friends. When the townspeople discover the dragon, however, they send for the legendary St. George to slay the creature they see as a threat. Faced with the loss of his only friend in the world, the young boy must convince St. George to not only spare the dragon's life, but to convince the townspeople of his kind and gentle nature. Dream Days is a collection of stories for children which finds room for fantasy and adventure in the smallest of places, and kindness in the largest of hearts.

With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Kenneth Grahame's Dream Days is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585790184
• ISBN13: 9781585790180
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Common Reader
• Length: 163 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A rare gem indeed

If you are picking up this book, you most likely have read its companion, THE GOLDEN AGE. This book continues the exploits of the children introduced in the first volume. Veddy, veddy English. Completely delightful, though. I am not sure today's children would enjoy this book. The 19th Century British-isms will probably be quite tedious to any but the most precocious of children. And nothing really "happens" so to speak. No adventures of overwhelming magnitude. Rather, the children's imagination governs what happens throughout the book. Small things are turned into events of great importance. Children brought up with video games will most likely be bored. But for an adult, ahhh! This is a find. It will make you yearn for the idyllic childhood you never had or anybody had for that matter.Each chapter is like sunlight shining on a bead of dew in April. Or something similarily poetic. Grahame's the better writer anyway.

Recalls the past

I'm sorry to see that Grahame's "Dream Days" is so unavailable. It's a deeply enjoyable book that demonstrates the power of "stories" to pull us out of the here and now and make us to stand up straighter, to imagine ourselves as knights and ladies. Grahame's book would be great for older children (young ones may find themselves fidgeting - there is a certain amount of description and archaic language). Adults may actually enjoy this one more than kids. Reading it brought back to me the days of my youth, when a good story could fire my imagination for days, and the characters lived right along side of me, as sort of doppelgangers. This story reminds me of E. Nesbit, another great Edwardian children's writer. Children should read these books, they are well-written and can help foster a love for the "right word" and the well-turned phrase. Try to find a copy with Parrish's illustrations. This whole book is just a wonderful aesthetic experience.