Dreams and tales are extremely linked. Apparently, both feed on the same things: fears and desires, elders and spirits, memory and time. Often, moreover, dreams play the role of messenger. So we are going to do in the book “What dreams say” by Muriel Bloch and Fanny Michaelis a world tour of the tales that we tell ourselves before sleeping. And some are very inspiring.
Here, you won’t find “The little match girl” or “Cinderella”. Here, we go from Japan to the Far North, from China to the Amerindians who, moreover, were very respectful of the messages received in their sleep, from aboriginal tales to Zen philosophy. So it will be very eclectic. I give you a few loose titles: The creation of the wolf, the gift of the angel, the beautiful maiden of the tower of the moon, the marvelous boy. They are universal, fantastic, wonderful and it is also true sometimes, they appear to us without head or tail while the meaning is deeper than it seems.
Know that the author Muriel Bloch is a storyteller, a real one who has published many books with Gallimard Jeunesse as is the case here again. The book is accompanied by very beautiful drawings by Fanny Michaelis who studied fine arts and has released albums since 2011.
And for story lovers, I suggest you get yourselves “The tales of Perrault” illustrated by Gustave Doré published by the National Library of France. It’s a gem. All the tales are gathered there: little red riding hood, blue beard, puss in boots, little donkey. It is inspired by the original edition of 1862 where already Gustave Doré had lent his touch of genius to the master Perrault. Note the preface is by Marc Fumaroli, academician. A story a day would be recommended, well, per day per night. And if we reconnected with the magic phrase: “Once upon a time”. v