Ben's Dream

by Chris Van Allsburg

Hardcover, 1982

Status

Available

Call number

813.5

Collection

Publication

Houghton Mifflin (1982), Edition: 1st, 32 pages

Description

On a terrifically rainy day, Ben has a dream in which he and his house float by the monuments of the world, half submerged in flood water.

User reviews

LibraryThing member kirkonly
Deciding to stay inside and study for a gepgraphy test, because it is raining, Ben falls asleep to the sound of rain hitting the window. Once asleep, Ben's goes on an adventure to many important landmarrks around the world!!

When reading this book i found myself looking at the landmarks and trying
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to figure out what they were and where they were at. Even though there were onlt words on the first 2 and last 2 pages, i was left to wonder how Ben got to each landmark. The illustrations, even though they were in black and white, were amazing, clearly show what the landmark is, and some were even a little funny.

As a teacher i could use this book in a number a ways: a read aloud or small group reading. But the best way that i believe i could use this book is to have my students research one of the pictures (landmarks) that they liked alot, and present what they found to the class. The book, although there were not very words, was overall a fun book.
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LibraryThing member Treeseed
From the brilliant author and artist, Chris Van Allsburg, who brought us Jumanji and the Polar Express, comes this delightfully surreal story of the unusual help a boy gets when he's studying for his Geography test about landmarks of the world. There is very little text but the characteristic black
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and white line drawings of Van Allsburg speak volumes. There are lots of subtle details that make you want to look this book over again and again. The clever Geography lesson is sure to be remembered forever when learned in this fun-filled fashion. It's a great book with Van Allsburg's usual wry little twist at the end.
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LibraryThing member cvyork
A boy falls asleep doing a social studies project and sees all of these world landmarks. I guessed what all of the landmarks were at each page, also at the end, there is a short description of what each landmark is, which is really cool.
LibraryThing member abconnor1
I liked this book. It is about a boy named Ben who falls asleep in his fathers' chair while he is supposed to be studying for his geography test that he has tomorrow on the landmarks of the world. Instead, he has this wild dream that takes him to the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Tower
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of Pisa, The Parthenon, Sphinx and many other places. He ends up waking up to his friend knocking on his window to play baseball, and they talk about having the same dream. I think this book was a good book to use for a history lesson because they dream about going to so many historical places. Neat book!
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LibraryThing member alisiap
Ben falls fast asleep in his living room chair, studying geography on a rainy day, and soon awakes to find his world all wet. His house floats along on what seems to be a never-ending ocean past all of the landmarks that he was studying: The Statue of Liberty; Big Ben; The Eiffel Tower; and more!
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Sailing along with Ben is a wild adventure sure to be filled with giggles and smiles. There's only text on 5 of the 31 pages, so it may be especially appropriate for readers who are intimidated by large pages full of text. This book it probably best for grades 2-5, and would be a great introduction for a Writing Workshop.
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LibraryThing member untitled841
Be careful not to miss the two ships passing.
LibraryThing member mdemock
This story would align well with a social studies unit on geography for lower elementary grades. The illustrations are unique in that they have a hand sketched feel. They provide an interesting perspective of some of the world's greatest wonders.
LibraryThing member sjordet
As a storm approaches, both Ben and Margaret suspend their outdoor play and head inside to study for their upcoming geography test. As the two fall asleep while reading their geography text books, the fantasy begins. Swept out to sea, the pair float in their houses past several geographic landmarks
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including the Eiffle Tower, Taj Mahal, and Mount Rushmore.

Completely in black and white, "Ben's Dream" is asthetically beautiful as Chris van Allsburg's line sketches provide fantastical images to complement the text. The pages with only pictures and no text speak volumes.
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LibraryThing member mhinderlie
Summary: Margaret and Ben want to play baseball but are rained out and instead both go home to study for their geography test the next day. Ben falls asleep to the sound of rain on the window. While sleeping he dreams about the landmarks around the world all halfway under water. He travels to all
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the landmarks until he is awoken by margaret at the window. The rain has stopped so they go to play baseball, on the way margaret explains her dream she had while falling asleep studying. It was the exact dream, and she had seen ben, but the crazy part was that ben had seen her in his dream as well. They had the same dream.
Genre: Fantasy, picture books
This book is a great example of fantasy, the children have the same dream about their georgraphy test the next day. The author uses minimal words in this story, using pictures to tell the majority of the story.
Media: pen
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LibraryThing member ccostakis
This was a cool book that also followed suit of many of Chris Van Allsburg texts. His story is mostly told through pictures in this book, in fact, a large number of pages in the middle of the story are solely images of Ben's dream. It has the typical "Van Allsburg" magical ending where something
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mystical comes together to remind us that the world can be extraordinary!
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LibraryThing member dukefan86
Ben falls asleep while studying for a "landmarks of the world" test, and ends of dreaming about them. At the end of the story, we learn that his friend Margaret has a similar dream during her afternoon nap, and that Ben and Margaret had cameos in each other's dreams. Interesting. Enjoyed the Van
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Allsburg drawings in this book, as usual.
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LibraryThing member SASegsworth
Clever book starts with boy and his friend studying for geography test, shares a dream of famous landmarks, and ends with him meeting his friend again, who had experienced a similar dream.
LibraryThing member matthewbloome
Though it pales in comparison to Just a Dream, this book is a lot of fun. I enjoyed it primarily for the illustrations, since the story is hardly existent almost like a something from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.

Lexile

540L

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1982

Physical description

10 inches

ISBN

0395320844 / 9780395320846

UPC

046442320849
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