SuitabookThe Book of Stolen Dreams
David Farr
- Reading
- Read alongside the child if the darker elements may unsettle them. Pause after imprisonment, encounters with the dead or violent decisions, and ask what the characters know, fear and choose.
- Themes
- Freedom, books and resistance: The ruling regime restricts books, schooling, library hours and dissent, while the siblings protect a book and become involved in resistance. The narrative presents access to words and opposition to oppressive rule as important, and connects courage with protecting others and doing what is right.
- Grief, death and the afterlife: The siblings’ mother has died, and the mysterious book is linked to communication with the dead, an afterlife and possible return to the living. The story uses these ideas to create wonder and melancholy, while also making grief and the hope of reunion central to difficult choices.
- Moral choice under oppression: Characters debate whether killing a dictator could be justified to prevent further harm; the siblings also face anger, danger and pressure from others. The story foregrounds moral deliberation rather than presenting difficult action as simple, but its final judgement on violence is unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether themes of ghosts, communicating with the dead, possible return from death, oppressive government, imprisonment, torture and resistance fit comfortably with the reader’s interests and beliefs.