Dream Time with Children

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.