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First Impression: What an exquisite little book! A wonderful journey through color for young story lovers!

Dreamtime symbolizes a time when the land was inhabited by ancestral spirits.

Dressing For Dreamtime book cover

Disagreement

Now, the author and I do not see eye to eye on this review at all. As much as I am grateful for the free Advanced Reader Copy of Dressing for Dreamtime, I don’t believe J. E. Rogers is grateful for my thoughts. However, Papergirl Community, here at The Book Nook, we trade in honesty. To view the somewhat heated discussion about this book and why it deserves the 3 star rating it was given, despite the exquisite illustrations, you can visit Reedsy Discovery.

Inspiration

The inspiration for Dressing for Dreamtime by J.E. Rogers finds its roots in Aboriginal culture. Scientists have the Big Bang. Christians have a God and six days. Aboriginal people have Dreamtime. Thanks to the ancestral spirits, there is life on earth with land and seas in their chosen formations. Thanks to Rogers readers will get to experience a tale about Dreamtime as they learn about an important ceremony.

A Misaligned Friendship

Just as colorful as the cover and story illustrations, the story weaves a tale about two monitor lizards, Mibili and Nintaka. In a book of two parts, the scaly pair invite readers to join them on a journey to the Australian outback as they prepare to celebrate at the Dreamtime Ceremony. Across the early pages, readers will witness signs of friendship going unrewarded, as Nintaka does what he can for his best friend. Unfortunately, Mibili is not so generous with his efforts and behaves in a way that causes grave upset. As everyone gathers to sing and dance, one little lizard has to decide whether he will join the fun or let a spat ruin the fun.

The Book Flaws

Although it contains a healthy dose of Australian slang, the book is an interesting read for parent and child to read together. The story is simple, the moral is clear, but the words are not necessarily the easiest for new readers. Children of all ages will appreciate the authentic colorful illustrations that make use of Aboriginal traditional patterns. Young children will enjoy hearing the story read to them, emerging readers will enjoy the novelty of the subject and a chance to learn some new words. As a picture book, more pages with less text per page would probably serve young readers better. This aside, curious minds are likely to be interested in the ‘glossary’ that fills the remainder of the pages. For all readers, the glossary offers a paragraph about the various Australian creatures and words experienced in the book, complete with relevant photographs to accompany the terms. For the explorer, the glossary pages also offer a wider insight into the Australian continent as a whole teaching them about additional creatures that are common to the continent but not necessarily to their own homelands. Therefore, as well as lizards, the ghost gum tree and the outback, children are taught about kangaroos, emus, and billabongs and most importantly, the Aboriginal race that inspired the book. Although the glossary serves as a reasonable teaching aid, it is somewhat misplaced. In the usual sense, a glossary would explain any difficult concepts within the text that warrant further understanding. The fact that this section explained more terms that were absent versus those that were present gave it a disjointed feel. Readers would probably appreciate seeing more of the Australian creatures and landscape within the actual story.

Recommendations

As a mature reader, there were some contradictions e.g., in one breath Nintaka has forgotten about the event, but in a moment that follows fear, he clearly remembers he has to be home early so that he can attend. Younger children are not likely to notice. Overall, it is worth reading to exemplify the point of being oneself, and to admire the artwork. It can’t hurt with geography practice either.

Quick Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ / G Rated

Have your say: The author and I argued about her use of a glossary. It explained more absent concepts than current ones. Settle the debate, what do you feel is the primary function of a glossary? Share your opinions with the Papergirl Community in the comments below.

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