The Dreamer

Starred review from March 15, 2010
Ryan's (Paint the Wind
) wandering and imaginative prose and Sís's (The Wall
) quietly haunting art fuse in this fictionalized account of Pablo Neruda's upbringing in the small town of Temuco, Chile. Precocious, terribly shy, and insightful, Neruda (known then by his birth name, Neftalí Reyes) is curious about all facets of life, particularly the wonders of nature. “He stood, captivated, feeling small and insignificant, and at the same time as if he belonged to something much grander,” writes Ryan when Neftalí first sees the ocean. His role model is his uncle Orlando, who owns the local newspaper, but his domineering father has no patience for the boy's daydreaming and love of reading and writing, which ultimately provokes Neftalí's passion for finding his own voice. Printed in green ink (as is the text), Sís's stippled illustrations provide surreal visual teasers for each chapter. Larger images pair with poetic questions (“Is fire born of words? Or are words born of fire?”) that echo Neruda's The Book of Questions
. Stressing “the importance of following dreams and staying determined,” the book is an immaculately crafted and inspiring piece of magical realism. Ages 9–14.

Starred review from April 1, 2010
Gr 4-9-Readers enter the creative, sensitive mind of Pablo Neruda, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, in this beautifully written fictional biography. Ryan artfully meshes factual details with an absorbing story of a shy Chilean boy whose spirit develops and thrives despite his father's relentless negativity. Neruda, who was born Neftali Reyes, sees, hears, and feels poetry all around him from an early age. Luckily he finds understanding and encouragement from his stepmother and his uncle, whose humanitarian and liberal attitudes toward nature and the rights of the indigenous Mapuche people greatly influence his developing opinions. In early adulthood, Reyes starts using the pseudonym by which he becomes known, taking his last name from that of a famous Czechoslovakian poet. Ryan suggests that this was how he hid his activities from his father. Her poetic prose style totally dovetails with the subject. Interspersed with the text are poems that mimic Neruda's style and push readers to think imaginatively and visually. Sís's whimsical pen-and-ink pointillist illustrations enliven the presentation. Each chapter is preceded by three small drawings that hint at something to come. The perfect marriage of text and art offers an excellent introduction to one of the world's most famous poets. An appended author's note gives further insight into Neruda's beliefs and accomplishments. In addition there are excerpts from several of his poems and odes. This unusual selection would be a fine companion to Deborah Kogan Ray's "To Go Singing Through the World" (Farrar, 2006)."Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2010
Grades 4-8 *Starred Review* Respinning the childhood of the widely beloved poet Pablo Neruda, Ryan and S-s collaborate to create a stirring, fictionalized portrait of a timid boys flowering artistry. Young Neftal- Reyes (Nerudas real name) spends most of his time either dreamily pondering the world or cowering from his domineering father, who will brook no such idleness from his son. In early scenes, when the boy wanders rapt in a forest or spends a formative summer by the seashore, Ryan loads the narrative with vivid sensory details. And although it isnt quite poetry, it eloquently evokes the sensation of experiencing the world as someone who savors the rhythms of words and gets lost in the intricate surprises of nature. The neat squares of S-s meticulously stippled illustrations, richly symbolic in their own right, complement and deepen the lyrical quality of the book. As Neftal- grows into a teen, he becomes increasingly aware of the plight of the indigenous Mapuche in his Chilean homeland, and Ryan does a remarkable job of integrating these themes of social injustice, neither overwhelming nor becoming secondary to Neftal-s story. This book has all the feel of a classic, elegant and measured, but deeply rewarding and eminently readable. Ryan includes a small collection of Nerudas poetry and a thoughtful endnote that delves into how she found the seeds for the story and sketches Nerudas subsequent life and legacy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2010
Perfect is the union that resulted in this novel: the subject, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (190473); author Ryan who re-creates Neruda's spirit and sensibility; and the Czech-born illustrator Sms whose escape from oppression so hauntingly resembles Neruda's struggle for creative freedom. Sms's introspective, emotion-charged drawings spring naturally from this lyrical account of a difficult childhood. An author's note and several Neruda poems are appended.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 1, 2010
As Neftali Reyes enters university, his wrathful father forbids wasting time on his useless "hobby": writing. So he fashions a pseudonym: "Pablo" from Paolo, in an Italian poem; "Neruda" after a Czech writer. The name fits like a suit: "The lapels were the width that he liked. The color was soft enough not to offend, but bright enough to be remembered. The name was not only a perfect solution, it was a perfect fit." Perfect indeed, like the union that resulted in this novel: the subject, poet Pablo Neruda (1904-73), the Chilean Nobel Prize winner; Ryan, the author who re-creates Neruda's spirit and sensibility; and Sis, the Czech-born illustrator whose escape from oppression (see The Wall, rev. 9/07) so hauntingly resembles Neruda's struggle for creative freedom. In Ryan's perceptive reconstruction of the poet's early years, Neftali, at eight, is already at loggerheads with an autocratic father who prohibits all creative activities, even reading. Fortunately the boy is unquenchable -- a lover of words, books, and ideas; a collector of the small, lovely objects that will always figure in his imagination. The forest yields natural treasures -- a pinecone he trades for a toy sheep, a lifelong talisman. At the beach (where Father forces him into the terrifying waves) are shells and a sympathetic librarian who offers him a hideaway for reading. There he feeds a pair of swans who are later shot by a hunter -- a tragedy that symbolizes his own frustrations and sorrows while also bonding him more closely with his loving stepmother and sister. The passing years nourish mind and heart with telling incidents: a girl Neftali admires recognizes his hand in the love letters a bully forces him to write; with a beloved uncle, he defends indigenous Chileans. Poetic interludes, inspired by Neruda's Book of Questions, heighten each event's significance: at the swans' death ("Which is sharper? The hatchet that cuts down dreams? / Or the scythe that clears a path for another?"); after Father burns Neftali's papers ("Where is the heaven of lost stories?"); on becoming Pablo Neruda ("Does a metamorphosis / begin from the outside _in? / Or from the inside out?"). Sis's introspective, emotion-charged drawings spring naturally from this lyrical account of a difficult childhood. Many of his quiet compositions are surreal visions: tiny, frightened children peer up from the ocean waves that dapple their implacable father's outlined form; a child, vulnerably naked, rides a winged pen that resembles a swan in flight. Such imagery adds a dimension of magical realism to a text in which Neftali's imaginative inner world is so often confronted with a harsher external reality, even while it is nurtured by kindness and natural beauty. Conflicts, injustice, and a promised future make the story compelling; Sis deepens it with dozens of provocative images. Neatly crafted vignettes presage each chapter's events; visual imagery extends Ryan's poems on open spreads of sea and sky; paths beckon and exquisite details reflect the dreamer's maturing imagination, clothing this masterful tribute in art that fits it as ineluctably as Neruda's new name suited his purpose. An author's note and several of Neruda's poems are appended.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)