Introducing a story about refugees, immigration, family, and keeping hope alive through dreams ~ featured in MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“Dreamers” by Yuyi Morales

*~Click here to purchase your own copy of *Dreamers* to start on your own reading adventure! (This is an affiliate link~ 5% of your purchase will go to MaiStoryBook to help create Reading Resources for your littles)~*

Book Synopsis and Review

This is a story about family~ about resilience, grit, and hope in the face of uncertainty and vulnerability. It is about home~ about finding a safe harbor of refuge and love in a new place that is foreign, daunting, and at times -unwelcoming-. *Dreamers* is a poetic, colorful portrait of migrantes~ refugees and immigrants who, although may be forced to leave behind everything they own in search of a better place to live, never leave their homeland empty handed. Instead of material possessions, they bear gifts of passion, strength, determination, and deep bonds of love that give them the courage to find and create a new home. This tale follows the journey of a mama and her young child as they leave their home, becoming caminantes, walking endless miles to reach a new place where the language is “different than that of our ancestors,” and the landscape and community are guarded and recluse. Solitary in this foreign land, it was an *unbelievable* place that finally allowed them to feel welcome to their new home: *~The public library~* a magical place where books allow anyone and everyone to embark on endless adventures, learn beyond their imaginations, and to find a place where they belong. *~And it is through books, that the little family finds their voice in this strange, new land~ and when you find your voice~ you can share your dreams with the world.

As Martin Luther King Jr. day approaches, we are reminded not only of the power of having *a dream*~ , but also of the power of having a voice to share it. MLK Jr. had a dream of a better world, and while there has been progress made since the times he lived in, our world today is still in need of more dreams~ more dreams to inspire the hope needed to fuel change for a better world~ where those seeking safety, and those determined to start a new life, who understand the value of passion, the necessity of sacrifice, and the urgency of labor to create a safe home for the ones they love, are welcomed with open arms across borders. Currently, in the United States, bias and hate have fueled a humanitarian crisis at our own borders. As I’ve mentioned previously, books are one of the best ways to help little ones process events and experiences that may be difficult for them to understand. One way to to discuss with your own littles what is happening at our own borders, and to help them understand the experiences of the migrantes, is to share with them this topical, bilingual story, *Dreamers.* It is a story to remind us that we are all dreamers, and to encourage us to use our voice to share our dreams for a better world.

Vocabulary

• Resplendent (p. 2) impressive, beautiful, very colorful
• Bundled (p. 3) tightly rolled up
• Immigrants (p.6) people who leave their homeland to find a new place to love
• Improbable (p. 14) unexpected
• Resilience (p. 27) strength to keep on going and trying even when it’s hard and difficult

Themes/Main Ideas

• The Power of Dreams: Dreams give us hope, and hope gives us the strength and courage to create change.
• The Power of Voice: When you can read, write, and speak, you have the power to make your dreams and hopes heard. You have the power to make change.

YouTube Video: Guided Shared-Reading Read Aloud Example

Example of a shared-reading, interactive Read Aloud of “Dreamers” – how to subtly introduce the vocabulary list words within the text, ask guided questions, and spark conversation!

*~Check it Out~*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuI4LEQf3M

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*Dream Weaver Catcher* Craft

*~Dreams~* There are two types of dreams: dreams that you can have at night while sleeping~ your subconscious thoughts and hopes seeping through your mind as you shut your eyes and drift through sleep / or the dreams you harbor safely in your heart~ your conscious hopes and dreams for yourself, for your loved ones, for the future~* When you have a dream, you have something worth striving for, you have a spark within you worth fighting for to keep ignited, you have the hope you need to fuel action and change. It’s always important to share and resist hopes and dreams with little ones. With mai little learners, we discuss, think about, share, and write down our hopes and dreams for the year. Do this exercise multiple times throughout year~ it’ll be interesting to see if their dreams have changed. It is important to be able to voice and acknowledge your dreams so that they can become something real and attainable. There are 2 crafts inspired by this story where we will be recording dreams on the wings of *butterflies*, and creating a special dream weaver catcher to catch all of your dreams and remind you to continue to voice them, share them, and make them come true!

*I am a Dreamer* Butterflies

Materials

• I am a Dreamer Butterfly Downloadable Template
• Scissors
• Glue
• Colors
• Pen/Pencil

Directions

• Choose a Top-Butterfly Template. There are colored or black-and-white versions. For both colored and black and white versions, there are different title formats: Blank, ”_____ is a Dreamer” in black block letters, “______ is a Dreamer” in white block letters, “_______ is a Dreamer” in a white box.
• Print out the Top-Butterfly Template. 
• Write your name on the blank line, and color if you chose black and white. (Ex. “ ___Maya___ is a Dreamer”
• Cut it out. 

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• Next, choose a Bottom-Butterfly Writing Template. There are colored or black-and-white versions. For both colored and black-and white versions, there are different writing template formats: Blank, Writing Prompt with all lines, Writing Prompt with lines and picture spave, Writing Prompt with picutrespace and no lines
• Print and Cut it out.
• Fill in the writing prompts by writing or drawing: What your dream is for this year (it can be the school year or the calendar year), What your dream for your future is, What your dream for your family is, and what your dream for the world is.

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• To connect the Bottom and Top Butterflies, apply Glue on the body of the butterfly where it says Glue. Then Glue the body of the top-butterfly to the body of the bottom-butterfly. 
• Fold up the flaps of the wings up along the crease of the body to reveal the dream writing underneath the wings of the top-butterfly
• ((**To prop the wings up on their own like in the sample pictures, I put a piece of tape on the inside edge of the wings where the top and bottom part meet near the body. (making an angle with the tap with the vertex being where the two pieces meet at the body)

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Dream Weaver Craft

Materials

• Paper plate
• Scissors
• Markers
• Different color ribbons (approx. 2ft each)
• Hole Puncher
• 3 leaves or feathers
• Tape

Directions

• Cut out the middle of the plate so that you are left with the rim intact. (Tip: To cut out the middle without cutting through the rim, poke a hole in the middle and stick one blade of the scissors through the hole. Start cutting from the middle)
• Use the hole puncher to make holes around the rim (I make at least 8 holes)

• Start with one color string and begin weaving it though the holes. After weaving it through the first hole, tape the end to the back of the plate so that it doesn’t unravel. ** While weaving your strings, think about to whisper your dreams so that they are captured and woven into your dream weaver catcher.
• Choose a “bottom” of your dream weaver catcher and weave the string through a bottom hole, letting the excess hang down. If there is no excess, tape a longer piece to the bottom.
• Repeat with different color string, making sure to leave at least 3 excess strings hanging down form the bottom.

• Tape your leaves or feathers to the bottom of the excess strings (You can find leaves by going on a nature walk)

• Use markers to decorate the plate rim of your dream catcher weaver.
• Weave a shorter strong though two holes at the top and tape the ends to the plate to create a handle to hang your dream weaver catcher from.
• Hang it above where you sleep~ or where you can see it daily to remind you of your dreams.

Enjoy your *Butterfly Dreamers* and *Dream Weaver Catcher* Crafts

• Share your Butterfly Dreamers and dream weaver catcher with family and friends and tell them about your dreams.
• Share your Butterfly Dreamers and dream weaver catcher with family and friends and ask them to use the prompts to share their own dreams.
• Hang your dream weaver catcher above where you sleep so your nighttime dreams can be woven into your dream weaver catcher.
• Display your Butterfly Dreamer to remind you to work and fight for your dreams.
• Whisper new daytime dreams to your dream weaver catcher to weave them into the ribbons.
• Use your dream weaver catcher to remind you of your dreams and to give you the hope and passion to make your dreams come true!
• Use the dream weave catcher as a reading buddy as you re-read *Dreamers* and think about the dreams of the *migrantes*

*~Overall, have fun creating and sharing  your  *Dream Weaver Catcher* Craft,  and I hope you and your little ones begin your own discussions about current events!  – tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary  – or post on FaceBook to share your photos of your own *Dream Weaver Catcher* Craft, and your own reading adventures! I’d love to hear from you!~*

*~Until next time, Happy Reading~*