Midwest Review - January 2020

Dream It & Do It: 100 Possibilities, Stories, Real-Life Role Models is for all kids and adults who love them, who would provide children with an inspirational blueprint for success via biographical sketches and self-help exercises.

The opening letter to 'dreamers' cultivates a positive approach to life, from the start: "What an exciting time to be looking to the future. The world around you is changing faster than it did for your parents or your grandparents. Technology is changing every day, the earth is counting on you, and we are working to be a kinder, more equal human race. You will have a major part in all of that. The question is: what will be your role in this change?"

The difference between this book and some others isn't just the admonition to dream big, but to follow in the footsteps of others who made seemingly-impossible dreams a reality.

Fearless perseverance and concern for the greater world drove these people, and also drives the message in this book, which is dedicated to not just self improvement, but global improvement.
The format takes a dream ("Dream of Writing Books"), pairs it with a selected figure ("Like Dr. Seuss"), and adds a colorful drawing of each selected individual. This accompanies lyrical, lovely descriptions of each individual achievement: "Songs are like snowflakes, there are millions of them in the world and each one is unique. Each one is made up of only twenty-one notes, but combined in a way that makes it different from every other song written before it. It is songwriters that are responsible for the words and music that make a song unique. The Sherman Brothers were songwriters that spent their career writing songs for Disney."

The biographies go beyond simply outlining life accomplishments or adversity, stretching the subject into how each person succeeded in translating their vision and efforts into contributing to a better world. Problems are clearly outlined and the thinking which went into resolving them are reviewed so that young readers receive an idea of the problem-solving process.

One strong example is the work of resource manager Esther Ndichu: "She learned that there are 800 million people in the world that go hungry (that is almost three times the number of people in the United States). What surprised her even more than the number of hungry people was that there was enough food in the world being produced to feed these hungry people. The problem is that food is being wasted, just like she saw on her uncle's farm. In fact, she says that one-third of all the food produced in the world ends up going to waste. She realized - this is not a food shortage problem. This is a logistics problem. The reason it is a logistics problem is because the food to feed people is not ending up in the right locations at the right time."

Elementary to middle grade readers thus receive an all-in-one workbook pairing biographical sketches with specific details on dreams that evolved for the greater good.

Adults seeking to install in youngsters the basic concept of growing, giving, and realizing their dreams in a broader context than individual interest alone will find Dream It & Do It a powerful model not just for success, but for cultivating a giving attitude towards life and society.

Very highly recommended, this is an outstanding approach that cements dreams with practical life experience and reality.

 

 

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