Dreamers

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales: Quick Summary

This is a story about a mother and her son immigrating from one home to another. Yuyi tells her true personal story through these two characters, and tells about the struggles she and her son faced along the way, as well as emphasizing the importance of staying hopeful throughout it all. There is also a great emphasis on the impact that literature and books had on the mother and sons outlook on life and their time adapting to their lives in a new place.

Leaving Mexico

This page shows the mother carrying her son as they leave their home country, Mexico. We see the use of color being a very important and telling aspect of Yuyi's illustration. The mother and son are made of bright, vibrant colors. The backpack seen on the left of the page is packed with gifts and things that inspire them and represent the things they love about their culture are also full of beautiful vibrant colors. The guitar stretches past the top of the page possibly signifying the importance that it holds to the story or to Yuyi. The bridge that the mother and son walk along is covered in sharp-looking barbed wire, and has a cactus with pointy spines on it as well, which may represent the danger that they were surrounded by in Mexico. The bridge is drawn to look very long and treacherous by disappearing behind the characters, representing the long dangerous journey they were beginning. The background consists of greys, browns, and neutral colors that contrast with the bright colors of the mother, son, and butterflies that surround them. The brightly colored parts in the picture seem to represent hope.

Inside the Library

At this point in the story, the mother and son have arrived in the United States. They have been facing many obstacles, one major obstacle being the language barrier. They are being expected to speak English, and being judged and facing prejudices for not doing so. On this page, they have entered a library and are exploring what it has to offer. As before, there is a colorful butterfly accompanying them representing hope. This page is filled with color, from the books to the other people in the library, there is vibrant color filling the page. The page shows shelves and shelves of books, and the characters are taking it all in. The son is shown to be reaching upwards towards a book in a way that may represent him "reaching up" in a more metaphorical way. "Reaching" to learn more and to delve into the world of literature in this library. The mother is also seen looking upwards possibly representing the same thing.

Exciting World of Books

This page comes shortly after the last one, and represents the new knowledge, hope, and possibilities that these library books are bringing to the mother and her son. We see them sitting in an explosion of color, the mother and son sitting with a book being the center of it all. The act of reading is causing all of this positivity to implode. There are different animals and things scattering the page that float around they may "float around" in the mother and sons minds. It is important to notice that the butterfly on this page is sitting on the book that they are reading, possibly indicating that the books are one of the biggest sources of hope and possibility. The butterflies may have even been leading the characters to find the books. The use of vibrant colors contrasting with more neutral ones continues into this page as the rest of the book. This aspect highlights the important parts of the illustration, which are the specific things that bring joy and hope to the characters.

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