In this enchanting bedtime story, a child (who uses they/them pronouns) is worried about having bad dreams. One of their two moms reminds them they can always call on the Good Dream Dragon. After struggling to sleep, they call out to the dragon and it appears—a friendly creature who flies the child to a mountaintop in Dreamland.
There, the child has gentle adventures sitting on a giant teapot, skipping cookies across a lake, and visiting a town “built entirely of books.” They read a book about a child helped by a dragon, who searches through the galaxies for good dreams—a lovely meta moment. Soon they feel sleepy, and the dragon flies them home. Although they want the dragon to stay, the dragon tells them they have proven their courage by flying on a dragon, and don’t need the dragon anymore. The child agrees, and snuggles down to sleep. As the dragon flies away, it affirms that the child can still call “Whenever you need me.”
This is a whimsical and sweet book, with lush illustrations by Courtney Dawson and soothing words by Jacky Davis, plus just the right spark of imagination. There are fun touches in the illustrations, too, such as a stuffed dragon on the child’s bed that looks remarkably like the one in their dreams. A picture with a transgender flag hanging behind the child’s bed implies that the child is trans. The child has medium-light skin and dark hair; one parent is similarly colored, and the other has paler skin and blonde hair.
Children of all genders and family types should appreciate this story about overcoming nighttime fears; for trans and nonbinary ones, it also offers much needed representation. It is also one of very few picture books to feature queer parents with a queer child. (And yes, it’s a myth that queer parents “make” their kids queer—but statistically, some of us are going to have queer kids anyway.) A welcome addition to any bookshelf.
