Littlest One is learning how to be a dream maker. She really wants to do well, and asks lots of questions as she follows an older more experienced dream maker into a human home. She talks when she shouldn’t and loves to play in the moonlight with the shadows when she should be concentrating.

The first thing she learns, besides not talking too much, is how to touch the human’s belongings. Just soft enough to feel and pick up the history of items she finds around the home. Whether it be a photograph, a piece of clothing, a button or a plate. Most things have a story, and fragments of these stories can be put together for a dream.

Littlest One and her teacher have been assigned a home belonging to an old woman and her dog. They have been giving the woman kind dreams about her loved ones and past, which give her strength for her days.

When the woman welcomes a foster child into her home, the dream makers have a more difficult task ahead. John is only eight but has had a rough time with his parents, especially his father. Now he’s angry at everyone and a prime target for other creatures of the night. Littlest One’s training also includes learning about the Sinisteeds who track humans like John down and feed him nightmares instead of dreams.

The longer Littlest One is with the woman, her dog, and John, the more he feels for them. Helping the woman save John from his anger and hate is Littlest One’s most important task as a dream maker. Can he muster enough joy and goodness for a dream to counter the Sinisteeds?

Look closely at the cover. Have you ever wondered where your dreams come from? Have you heard of the dream makers? They are responsible for your dreams, collecting pieces of your life and ever so gently giving them to you as you sleep, in snapshots or forming new stories of their own.

First published in 2006, Gossamer is now available in paperback for a whole new group of readers. This novel has effortlessly travelled through time and now in 2024, is just as relevant and imaginative as when it first appeared on shelves.

Lois Lowry is a celebrated, multi award winning US author, and Gossamer is a beautifully written, perfectly formed novel, even at only 140 pages.

I loved the way the woman character, once a teacher, is kind and patient with her new foster child who challenges her constantly. It’s wonderful to watch him climb out from under the oppression of his past, and also see his mum’s point of view as she begins rebuilding her life.

Yes, there are views of child abuse through an angry, hurting child’s eyes, but ultimately Gossamer is a gentle novel of hope and love.

Something truly special.

Author – Lois Lowry

Age – 9+

(2024, Harper Collins, Love, Animals, Dog, Family, Fantasy, Dreams, Nightmares, Domestic Violence, Foster Child, Child Abuse, Hope, Patience, Understanding, Courage)