Only a Dream
For every child who has ever woken up afraid—and every adult who has sat with them in the dark.
Ages 4 to 8
About the Book
Only a Dream is a rhyming picture book for children ages 4-8 that addresses nightmares and nighttime fears through a framework of empowerment, mindfulness, and emotional literacy. Through the story of a child who wakes frightened from a series of vivid nightmares, the book offers a toolkit of concrete strategies for transforming fear into courage and self-understanding. Best enjoyed as a shared read-aloud experience between children and the caring adults in their lives.
The original tissue paper collage illustrations—incorporating childhood drawings by the author’s children—give the book a handmade, dreamlike visual quality that complements its subject matter. The narrative draws on Jungian dream psychology, presenting nightmare figures not as threats to be escaped but as messengers to be understood. It introduces children to foundational mindfulness concepts including emotional awareness, the practice of lucid dreaming, and the calming power of gratitude and visualization. Strategies presented in the story include keeping a dream journal, using a special night light, turning a magical pillow to its good-dreams side, sharing worries with a trusted adult, and learning to recognize when one is dreaming in order to consciously change the dream.
The book includes an Author's Note with extension activities and discussion questions to help families and educators go deeper with the book’s themes, and a Guided Visualization for Bedtime script for use as a nightly calming practice.
Written and illustrated by a former kindergarten and preschool teacher, meditation teacher, and mother, Only a Dream integrates principles from child development, transpersonal psychology, and contemplative practice into an accessible, warmly illustrated story.
bedtime guided visualization
Your white light of protection
This short meditation invites children to imagine white light all around them and others the people they love, offering a sense of protection and peace through the night. I did this visualization with my own children at bedtime for several years, and my daughter now continues the tradition with her own daughter. My granddaughter has listened to this recording hundreds of times and still asks for it every night. You can choose to listen to the recording below or read the script that follows the story in the book.
BEDTIME LOVINGKINDNESS
A calming and connecting practice
This meditation invites children to send kind wishes outward in widening circles—beginning with themselves, then a dear friend, then a child they don’t know well, and eventually to all children everywhere. This meditation draws on the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness (metta)—one of the most widely practiced and researched contemplative practices in the world. Research suggests that practicing compassion for others reduces anxiety and promotes emotional wellbeing in children.
There are two versions: gentle and extended. Start with the gentle version, and stay with it for a while so your child can get used to the practice. If you sense they are ready, the extenced version gently introduces the idea that even children we find difficult share our common experience of fear and the wish to feel safe—a powerful seed of empathy and understanding. However, there's no rush; lovingkindness practice is meant to be easy. Follow your child's lead. If they don't feel ready to send kind wishes to someone they find hard to get along with, stay with the gentler version.
If this meditation becomes a regular part of your bedtime routine, your child can enjoy going through their day, looking for who they will practice with in each category at night. You can do it alongside your child, sending well-wishes to adults and children in the same categories for you. You might even tell each other who you’re bringing into the practice each evening.
Beyond the Story
The story is just the beginning. Here are some ways to explore further with the children in your life.
Get Creative
Draw, describe, or act out your nightmare. Getting it out of your head and into the world makes it feel smaller.
Draw or imagine your nightmare looking benevolent or silly rather than scary.
What superpowers could you give yourself in a scary dream? What would you do with them?
Tell a Story
Write, tell, illustrate and/or act out a story about a nightmare you’ve had. Since you are the author, you can change it however you’d like, and even give it a happy ending.
Write, imagine, or act out a prequel or sequel to the nightmare.
Keep a dream journal. Decorate a blank notebook or create a moon book (instructions below) to keep by your bed for recording and illustrating your dreams.
Set a Positive Bedtime Tone
Every night at bedtime, think of five things you’re grateful for from the day. You can write them in a gratitude journal or simply bring them to mind.
Imagine your own special safe place, where you feel completely peaceful and protected. Imagine the details with all of your senses.
Reflect Together
What makes you feel safe and peaceful at bedtime? Do you have any special objects, stories, or rituals that help?
What strategies did the child in the story use to manage night fears? Do you think any of them would work for you? Which would you most like to try?
Do you have any other ideas for coping with nightmares or night fears?
If you could give advice to another child who was having nightmares, what would you tell them?
make a moon dream journal
The cover of this book replicates the phases of the moon!
Materials
3 sheets of black cardstock (you may be able to find some with silver flecks (alternatively, I recommend painting cardstock with acrylic paint and/or glittery stars)
Several sheets of good quality white paper
Round lid or bowl about 7” in diameter
Sharp pencil
Scissors
Stapler
Round lid or cup about 3 1/2” in diameter
4”x4” piece of aluminum foil, white cardstock, or watercolor paper (if using watercolor paper, you might want to pain it in soft tones to resemble the moon)
Round lid or cup about 4 1/2” in diameter
Glue
Brad (metal paper fastener)
Black electrical or duct tape
Instructions: Round Book
1) With a pencil, trace around the lid or bowl to make a circle on two sheets of black cardstock. Carefully cut out the circles.
2) Trace the same-sized circle onto several sheets of white paper; then cut them out. These will be the pages of your book, so make as many as you want. Hint: You may choose to use word processing software and print the pages with the text already formatted inside a 7” circle; simply cut along the circumference.
3) Make sure the black covers and white pages are lined up neatly, and staple them together close to an edge.
4) Using the smallest lid, trace a circle onto the dull side of the aluminum foil (or white cardstock or watercolor paper) with a pencil. Carefully cut out the circle.
5) Using the middle-sized lid, trace a circle onto the remaining sheet of black cardstock. Carefully cut it out.
6) Glue the aluminum, white, or watercolored circle to the center of the front cover.
7) With a brad or tiny hole-punch, carefully poke a hole through the middle-sized, black circle about 3/8” inch from the top.
8) With the brad, carefully poke a hole through the front cover 1 cm (slightly less than ½”) above the top of the glued-on circle. (Orient book so the staples are on the left-hand side.) With the brad, attach the black circle over the light-colored circle so the former can swivel and replicate the phases of the moon. Note: In order to achieve a full moon effect, it is important to position the black circle slightly above the light-colored circle. You may want to test the movement before poking the hole.
9) Cover the back of the brad and the staples with small pieces of black electrical tape.
Instructions: Rectangular Moon Book
Follow instructions for the round book, except for steps 1 to 3. Instead of tracing and cutting circles, simply fold one sheet of 8½” x 11” dark cardstock in half so it measures 8½” tall by 5½“ wide. Then fold each sheet of (8½” x 11”) white paper in half. Unfold the cardstock and paper, and stack them carefully so the cardstock is on top. Using a long-arm stapler, staple three times along the fold. (If you don’t have a long-arm stapler, you can use a standard stapler to staple close to the left edge. For a more finished look, cover the staples with black electrical or duct tape wrapped around the spine so that both the front and back of all the staples are covered with one piece of tape.)
About the Author
SUSAN MEYER, M.A. is a mother, grandmother, meditation teacher, and former kindergarten and preschool teacher. She has studied Jungian psychology and worked with her own dreams for decades, guided by the belief that dreams are a doorway to deeper self-understanding. She enjoys teaching both children and adults how to meet their emotions with mindfulness and care.
She wrote and illustrated Only a Dream as part of her master’s thesis in Education when her children were in elementary school, incorporating some of their own childhood drawings into the illustrations. After completing her degree, she began teaching kindergarten and set the book aside, intending to return to it when the time was right.
Twenty years later, after publishing her first book for adults (River Time: Mindful Reflections from the Upper Hudson), she was staying overnight with her grandchildren when the youngest woke up crying in the night, afraid there was a monster in his room. Susan returned home and began putting the finishing touches on Only a Dream.
Susan’s favorite bedtime comfort object is a heart-shaped rose quartz. She lets it rest in her hand or in the notch at the bottom of her ribcage, where it takes on her body heat and feels warm and soothing.