Description
By: Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)
Dream Days is a charming collection of stories that transports readers into a whimsical world where imagination knows no bounds. Kenneth Grahame’s writing is beautifully descriptive, creating vivid imagery that brings to life the magical adventures of the characters.
Each story in the collection is unique and enchanting, capturing the essence of childhood wonder and innocence. From a boy who can communicate with animals to a girl who embarks on a daring journey to the moon, the stories are filled with heartwarming moments and timeless lessons.
Grahame’s storytelling is both captivating and thought-provoking, exploring themes of friendship, imagination, and the power of dreams. The characters are relatable and endearing, making it easy for readers to become emotionally invested in their escapades.
Overall, Dream Days is a delightful read that will appeal to readers of all ages. Grahame’s enchanting storytelling and whimsical world-building make this collection a true gem that will leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads it.
Book Description:
Dream Days is a collection of children’s fiction and reminiscences of childhood written by Kenneth Grahame. A sequel to Grahame’s 1895 collection The Golden Age (some of its selections feature the same family of five children), Dream Days was first published in 1898 under the imprint John Lane: The Bodley Head. (The first six selections in the book had been previously published in periodicals of the day—in the Yellow Book, the New Review, and in Scribner’s Magazine in the United States.) The book is best known for its inclusion of Grahame’s classic story The Reluctant Dragon.
Like its precursor volume, Dream Days received strong approval from the literary critics of the day. In the decades since, the book has perhaps suffered a reputation as a thinner and weaker sequel to The Golden Age—except for its single hit story. In one modern estimation, both books “paint a convincingly unsentimental picture of childhood, with the adults in these sketches totally out of touch with the real concerns of the young people around them, including their griefs and rages.” Its concern is chiefly with the lands of imagination, ranging from a reconnaisance of men of solitude, a disastrous introduction of a girl to the narrator’s private castle in the clouds, derring-do on the high seas, and, of course, an encounter with a dragon. Its concluding bittersweet story bids a reluctant farewell to the dream days of childhood.
(Summary by Wikipedia and Catharine Eastman)
