Julius Lester Book

Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream

This book was written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Albidaro is the Guardian of Children who watches children while they sleep to be sure no harm comes to them. When the children get tired of doing what they are told, a mischievous dreams whispers to them and tells them they can do whatever they want, not what they are told, when they wake up. Then Albidaro decides to play a trick on his sister, Olara, the Guardian of Animals. Albidaro tells the dream to weave itself around all the hearts of the animals so that the animals can do whatever they want to do as well. As the children wake up, the parents are all amazed when the children won't get up or do as they are told. Then pets escape from their cages and wild animals leave their original habitats and end up sitting on couches and taking showers in the children's homes. The joke went a little too far, and Olara must clap her hands to send the animals back to "normal." Finally Albidaro ends up putting everyone in a deep sleep so they won't remember what happened when they wake up.

This is a magical story that I really enjoyed reading. Everyone can relate to not wanting to obey their parents, but we forget they are trying to do what is best for us. This book is quite different from other books I have read by Julius Lester. He has written more than 25 books including

To Be a Slave, John Henry, The Long Journey Home: Stories from Black History, What a Truly Cool World, The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, and From Slave Ship to Freedom Road.