Bee reviewed Dream House by Laura Dockrill
Review of 'Dream House' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The Dream House is a wonderful, emotional read that focuses on bereavement and the way children handle grief and loss. Laura Dockrill has written a book that is beautiful and understands that children do not process grief in the way an adult does, that the loss of someone important. For Rex, the main character in The Dream House, it is the loss of his father, doesn't always equate to just tears and pain but also confusion and anger at everyone and everything including his father.
I read The Dream House feeling the sorrow Rex feels creep up on me and was in tears by the end of this beautifully illustrated book because you cannot help but feel everything Rex goes through as well as other characters in the book. It is a book that belongs in every school, every therapists office and is one I will now automatically suggest to …
The Dream House is a wonderful, emotional read that focuses on bereavement and the way children handle grief and loss. Laura Dockrill has written a book that is beautiful and understands that children do not process grief in the way an adult does, that the loss of someone important. For Rex, the main character in The Dream House, it is the loss of his father, doesn't always equate to just tears and pain but also confusion and anger at everyone and everything including his father.
I read The Dream House feeling the sorrow Rex feels creep up on me and was in tears by the end of this beautifully illustrated book because you cannot help but feel everything Rex goes through as well as other characters in the book. It is a book that belongs in every school, every therapists office and is one I will now automatically suggest to anyone who has children who are struggling with grief because this book will offer help even if they don't immediately realise it. I certainly wish there had been something like this when we lost my Mother in Law and my eldest who was very young struggled with everything going on around them.
Gwen Millward's illustrations truly do look like they could be drawn by Rex as he uses his art to work through his emotions and as strange as it may seem, the very paper of the pages feel like the soft paper used in art books so it feels like you're looking at the 'real' artwork. Everything about The Dream House book comes together perfectly to make this book a wonderful although very emotional read, a story that I feel will stay with me.
And oh... the letters from Rex's dad to him are so hard but so good to read, it felt almost like an invasion of privacy to read them as the love and angst pours from the words.
Thank you so much Piccadilly Press, Kaleidoscopic Tours and of course Laura Dockrill and Gwen Millward for the opportunity to read The Dream House.
My heart still hurts...