Christopher and the Dream Dragon

Adele Ashby was the former editor of Canadian Materials for Schools and Libraries.

This is Allen Morgan’s second book about Christopher. In this story, unable to sleep, Christopher looks out his bedroom window and wonders why the moon changes shape. As it happens, Christopher knows a giant who lives on a cloud who just might have the answer. He goes into his elevator closet and joins the giant, who is throwing a party on his cloud. At the end of the festivities, everyone climbs into a cloudship to sail off to see the sleeping dream dragon, who is in hibernation until the moon is full and fat and ready to eat. He lies on top of a pile of bright, shiny pennies, and, when awakened, gives them out to those who have awakened him to put under their pillows to conjure up dreams. When Christopher returns to his bed, he finds a penny that gives him his very best dream ever.

Christopher and the Dream Dragon is really two stories: the explanation of the moon’s changing shape and Christopher’s overcoming his inability to sleep and hence to dream. The book would have been better if Morgan had chosen one or the other; the attempt to work in two story-lines is not totally successful. It is also unfortunate that the book was not published in an edition that is uniform with its companion, Christopher and the Elevator Closet. Nonetheless, Morgan’s dream-land adventure, with its jolly black-and-white illustrations by Brenda Clark, is an excellent choice for bedtime.