Author: Kate M. Becker
Illustrator: Jed Henry
Publisher and year: Candlewick, 2013
Number of pages: 32 pages
Genre: Picture Book
My Dream Playground is a story of a dream come true. A girl dreams about having a playground and she draws this dream playground everyday in her sketchpad using pencils and crayons. Then one day this girl showed a man who is in charge of building the playground her ideas and her dream finally came true. This story inspires children to bravely follow their dreams and working hard.
On the first page, we are looking down on this street and we can only see a part of an empty lot where this little girl wishes it could become a playground. We can see the girl who is looking down from her window at the empty lot. Then we see her with two of her friends sitting on a staircase and they are engaged in her drawings. The next page is the girl’s drawing. There are slides, monkey bars, trampolines, and many other entertainment facilities. Children are playing and laughing on the playground. There are no frames, so it always feels like we are a part of the story. It feels like we are looking at the empty lot with the little girl and we are looking at her real drawings since the illustration contains the sketchbook frame. Then the girl’s mom told her to never stop dreaming and soon the project manager came. The manager and the little girl stood on a higher ground which implies they have the power to change this empty lot. People came and they all helped build the playground. At the end of the book, we see the girl and another boy playing the swings. The illustration again makes us feel we are very close to them. The illustrator always uses bright and warm colors which also implies children’s imaginations are free.
This story is inspired by a real-life example of the driving force behind the first playground built by the nonprofit organization KaBOOM!. KaBOOM! Is a national nonprofit that believes every child should have a great place to play within walking distance. They believe in the dreams and imaginations of children. This book empowers children and provides an example that sometimes our wishes can really come true if we really believe in it and work hard for it. Any child who likes playground will really appreciate this story.
