In the land of the Ojibway a baby sleeps, protected from bad dreams, as the life of the tribe goes on around him. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 1-4-- What was life like for an Ojibway child ``in a time long ago?'' For a baby, like the one at the center of this gentle and lyrical book, it means lying in a cradleboard at the center of family life, ``in the moon of the raspberries,'' while mother works, children play, and father returns with a canoe full of fish. For a big sister, it means helping with the berry-drying and watching grandmother fashion a toy. And it means fashioning a ``dream net'' from willow and nettle-stalk to hang at baby's head, where it catches dreams that even a big sister might fear, while letting good dreams--of sucking maple suger, dancing, running--come through. Young's pastels are vibrantly colored but as tender as the text. The faces in soft shadow or semi-profile could be Everychild's, but the beautifully filtered light belongs only to a woodland-and-water setting. The pages are bordered with a flower garland that might come from the folk art of many peoples. The artist's treatment emphasizes the universally human as well as the culturally particular in this empathic glimpse of Ojibway life. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, SeattleCopyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Ages 4-8. All day, an Ojibwa baby watches from a cradle as little boys play and Mother, big sister, Grandmother, and Father work nearby. At night, baby sleeps peacefully, for sister has made a dreamcatcher, a small willow hoop woven with a taut net of nettle fibers that catches bad dreams and holds them until the sun destroys their power, while letting good dreams slip through. The quiet, almost hypnotic, free verse text weaves a web of its own to capture beautiful daydreams, fleeting glimpses of Ojibwa life. Dreamlike, too, in its impressionistic interpretation of the story is Young's softly shaded pastel artwork, which captures the spirit of the words without defining the images too sharply. Like black ribbons embroidered with a flower-and-vine motif, vertical borders define the beginning and ending of each double-page spread. A beautiful evocation of family love shown through the ways of the Ojibwa. (Reviewed Feb. 15, 1992)053105988XCarolyn Phelan From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.