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By Brenda Mallon.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
£13.95
ISBN 1 84310 0142,   

"Everyone all over the world dreams. No matter what our culture, our sex, our religion or our race; whether we come from the Sahara Desert or downtown New York, we share the world of dreams.

"The foetus dreams within the womb, and children spend much of their time in rapid eye movement or dream sleep. Children need to dream because dreaming is part of the cognitive process where learning is laid down and memories classified and stored. Anyone who cares about their child's progress, emotionally and academically, needs to understand the powerful influence of dreams."

The rest of this fascinating and readable book is an elaboration of the author's opening sentence.

Using vivid examples, Brenda Mallon explains how and why children dream, and makes connections with universal dream themes and symbols. She subscribes to Jung's theory of multiple layers in dreams. Practical guidance is given on how to help children express their dreams individually or in a group. She analyses Harry Potter's dark dreams, alerting us to the signals being sent out by nightmares which can denote fear of separation, abandonment or attack. But she ends by reminding us how uplifting and creative dreaming can be.

Julia Tugendhat is a psychotherapist and writer.