A Hatful of Dreams

Bob Graham’s ‘A Hatful of Dreams’ is more than a picture book about the wonder a grandparent can weave. It’s about hope. It’s about family. It’s about love. I sighed after reading it—grateful for the reminder that in the face of hard things, one of the strongest antidotes is the magic we weave at home: empathy, tolerance, love and understanding that can light the way to a brighter tomorrow. Grandad reminded me so much of my late uncle, a storyteller who created magic for me as a child. The memory stirred was as much a gift as the book itself. * loveforreading via instagram *
Margot Lindgren has written a brilliant review that focuses on Bob Graham’s story world and how characters and illustrations seem to step from one book to another, and, in each, building a tale that focuses on the everyday lives and living which every young reader is going to recognise and be a part of. And books that are mirrors, particularly those that wrap themselves around you like a grandparent’s love, are what many of our kids need right now. * The Bottom Shelf *
There are multiple themes and ways in which to read this story, including explorations of imagination, intergenerational myths, and notions of home and community. The characterisation of the family is arguably the book’s most exquisite gift to readers, however as Grahams deceptively simple illustration style gradually exposes warmth, playfulness and the everyday ‘getting on with it’ of a bust household, underpinned by literal and figurative magic. – Lara Cain Gray * Magpie Magazine *
Pure ?magic!? (Our Mummy absolutely adored this story.) A celebration of joy and the bond between kids and their grandparents, this book is one of those stories that will be treasured by the young and the old. We loved how the kids interjected and asked questions, and how the grandad answered them with whimsy and imagination. * idreamofallthebooks via instagram *

Bob Graham is a Kate Greenaway-winning bookmaker who has written and illustrated many acclaimed children’s picture books including Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post, Ellie’s Dragon, The Poesy Ring, Home in the Rain, How to Heal a Broken Wing, How the Sun Got to Coco’s House, Max, Maxine, Jethro Byrde: Fairy Child, The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story and The Concrete Garden. His 2011 title, A Bus Called Heaven, is endorsed by Amnesty International UK and was the winner of the 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award – a prize Bob has won an unprecedented seven times. He has been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Literary Award in Australia twice, in 2014 for Silver Buttons and in 2017 for Home in the Rain. Bob lives in Melbourne, Australia.

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