“Someone has to build the dream.”—Lisa Wheeler
Why this Book? Why will it matter to kids?
Young readers will experience and come to appreciate the dignity in all facets of labor, from building bridges to making books. “It takes a team to build a dream,” as author Lisa Wheeler reminds us in this book from her heart. Illustrator Loren Long reflects that he hopes children will see their mom or dad or grandparent or cousin on the pages of this book. I saw my dad, who was a welder (and who built the house I grew up in, my first desk, and even my bike). And when I told Lisa that, I learned that her dad was a welder, too. This elegant and buoyant collaboration is all about those kinds of connections.
Levels and Layers of Learning
Acceptance, compassion, connection, courage, creativity, dedication, diligence, effort, empowerment, encouragement, fortitude, generosity of spirit, gratitude, helpfulness, humility, inspiration, integrity, leadership, loyalty, passion, perseverance, persistence, perspective, pride, resilience, resourcefulness, respect, self-assurance, self-awareness, self-reliance, teamwork, tenacity, trustworthiness
Science, Art, English Language Arts
Using This Book in the Classroom
Hit the Ground Running
Ready Resources for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Parents
An insightful conversation between Lisa and Loren focuses on the creation of Someone Builds the Dream, hosted by Blue Willow Bookshop.
Publisher’s Weekly article: “In Conversation with Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long”
Write Away!
Ideas to prompt writing
Which worker highlighted in the book interests you most? Why?
Write about someone you know who works to build the dreams of others. What work do they do? How do they accomplish their task? What do you admire most about them and the work they do?
The author writes: “All across the great big world there’s lots of work to do. It takes a team to build a dream, a skilled, hard-working crew.” What someones are you curious about who helped to make a dream you enjoy come true?
Poetry Break
Related poetry to recite before or following the reading of this book
Poetry fits perfectly into brief moments in the day—from morning opening to lining up for lunch; from transitioning between subjects to zipping up backpacks at dismissal. Reading a poem typically takes less than a minute, yet it can introduce or reinforce a concept, celebrate language, exemplify rhythm, enhance vocabulary, expand understanding, increase attention span, initiate reflection, or summon a giggle. And, poetry soothes the spirit.
- Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook, illustrated by Andy Robert Davies
- Construction People by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Ellen Shi
- Heroes and She-roes: Poems of Everyday Heroes by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jim Cooke
And Then There’s This…
Enrichment activities, related books, online resources, craft projects, and ideas for further study
Book Connections: Nonfiction Read and Respond Multi-Leveled Lessons for Someone Builds the Dream.
Related Books of Interest
Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
Night Job by Karen Hesse, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Night Shift by Jessie Hartland
The Village Garage by G. Brian Karas
Meet the Author
Meet the Illustrator
Backstory: Q & A with Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long
Lisa and I met more recently as participants at a book festival. I immediately noted her warmth and humor as well as her professionalism as an author of children’s books. As we worked on this post, Lisa continued to be sincere, gracious, and kind in helping put the pieces together. It is my pleasure to welcome her to the Children’s Book Corner blog.
Judy Bradbury: How did you come to write Someone Builds the Dream? What kernel seeded its creation?
Lisa Wheeler: A few summers back, my husband and I were renovating our bathroom. This was nothing new as we have renovated every house we’ve owned. But I felt overwhelmed to the point of tears as I tiled the shower. I just couldn’t get the pieces to stay straight! This experience made me think of the people who do this kind of work every single day.
Then, I recalled when my husband–who worked at a prototype automotive shop, building car bodies — told me about a situation at work. He said that sometimes, what the engineers and designers draw on paper, doesn’t always work in the real live 3-D world. When I asked what the prototype team would do about it he said, “Our job is to make it work.”
That got me thinking. There are people all over the world whose job is to Make It Work.
That was the seed I needed to start growing a story.
JB: Tell about one hurdle you experienced in the creation of Someone Builds the Dream or provide a memorable (or humorous!) anecdote related to the making of this book.
LW: In my experience, books evolve during the course of revision. In my original draft, there were less scenes. My astute editor, Lauri Hornik, asked for a scientist to be included. That took some thought. How to show an idea that comes from a scientist and take it through the steps of creating a finished product. My first idea had to do with glass-making and test tubes.
Then, Loren and I met to discuss the book. This is something that doesn’t generally happen between author and illustrator, but boy was it important!
We spent hours going over the book, scene by scene. It was during this process that we both saw a huge disconnect in my scientist scene. That led to more discussion and the idea for the wind turbines.
As I drove home after that meeting, my head was buzzing with excitement to write!
Loren Long: The cover for a book is very important. It’s the first thing people see. It should instill interest and intrigue and make people want to read what’s inside. Creating the right cover image became a bit of a hurdle for me on this one. I usually wait until I’ve finished the inside pictures of a book before pondering the cover image. It helps give context to the overall project after I’ve worked through and finished all of the interior images. Of course the editor and art director are involved in the discussion, so it helps to share thoughts and ideas. I started with what I thought was a pretty strong sketch of intertwined workers with machinery. We all liked it, but it didn’t speak enough to the essence of what the book was about, and there was a disconnect with the art on the pages inside. We all agreed the best direction was to show a glimpse of one of the BUILDS from the book. I was determined to make a showstopper of a painting of workers building the bridge that readers will see in the book. In my head it was going to be epic, a painting that would blow people’s minds. I designed a grand wraparound image that would be sure to glorify the dignity of the skilled laborers and instill a sense of awe in my readers. I sketched and fussed and labored and noodled this full spread painting that would surely be the greatest art that had ever come out of me.
Upon finishing the painting I proudly set my paint brush down, stood back from my drawing table, and examined my creation.
I thought, hmm… it’s pretty nice, I guess.
What? Nice?!
Nice wasn’t good enough for the cover of Someone Builds the Dream. It was a pretty cool painting, but it didn’t have the wow factor we wanted for the cover. It’s a hard thing to come to terms with actually, considering the amount of time it took me to make that painting.
But I went back to the drawing board and created an image of one strong worker looking up at the bridge that she had helped build. I tried my best to paint a majestic, richly colored sky as a backdrop behind the lone figure standing in partial shadow in the foreground. We all felt the new illustration did the trick and that became our cover.
Even still, I liked the first painting so I asked my editor if we could use it as a case cover for the book. The case cover is pasted down to the hard cover of a book underneath the dust jacket. We all loved the idea! So when you get your copy of Someone Builds the Dream, be sure to slip off the dust jacket and see my first attempt at creating the final cover.
JB: The underlying theme in Someone Builds the Dream is that it takes a corps of skilled workers to make the things we need, use, and enjoy. How did you decide which someones to feature?
LW: The first two were easy. I wanted to show home construction because of all our renovation projects. Then, because of my Pittsburgh roots, my dad the welder and my husband the metal fabricator, I had to represent steel in some way. After that, I just made a list of trade skills and another list of what would be a fun, kid-friendly way to use them.
JB: What did you learn from creating Someone Builds the Dream?
LW: Working on this book made me see the connections between lots of things that I used to take for granted. For instance, every day we open doors. I began thinking about things like, what is the door made of? Who designed it? Who installed it? Who chose the color? Wondering about the Who behind everyday things, makes me appreciate not only the item, but all the folks who linked their skills together to create it.
JB: What would surprise readers to learn about you or about the creation of Someone Builds the Dream?
LW: Whenever someone finds out that I’m a writer, they envision me sitting at my computer. The truth is, most of my writing takes place in my head while I am in motion. I’ve written manuscripts while walking, cleaning, cutting grass and even while swimming. The trick is to recall and write down the words before I forget them. Therefore, lots of those words end up on scraps of paper, grocery lists, envelopes and a few times scribbled in the margins of other manuscripts. My spin instructor has me figured out and has asked me a few times what I wrote during her class. (The answer is many, many speeches and stanzas!)
JB: What do you hope readers will take away from Someone Builds the Dream?
LW: I want them to start making connections. When a kid asks for “stuff”, I’d love for them to realize that those things begin and end with people. One person dreamed it. Skilled people created it and someone had to make it available. The child holding that toy, wearing that shirt, or living in that building is a person in that chain. And each person has value.
LL: I hope that readers see what they might become in our book. We want readers to see themselves in our book. But in Someone Builds the Dream, perhaps children will see their Mom or Dad or a Grandparent, maybe an Aunt, Uncle, or neighbor. This type of representation matters.
I hope that young readers see that there is dignity and pride in all labor, no matter what kind.
We hope for children that they can grow up and become whatever they want to be. For some, that may mean attending college and becoming an engineer who someday designs a bridge. For another child, it may mean learning a skilled trade and becoming the welder who builds that bridge. Either way, my hope is that those different children grow up to respect and appreciate each other and their respective, important and necessary roles in making that dream become a bridge.
JB: How do you see Someone Builds the Dream connecting to curriculum?
LW: All of these skilled trades have a foot in S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, art and math) Being my husband’s ‘ground crew’ for all these years, I’ve seen it firsthand. The math alone–So. Much. Measuring!–boggles my mind. There’s also lots of science. When you have to lift something heavy without owning a forklift, you’ll start reviewing your high school physics!
JB: What’s up next?
LW: Thank you for asking! I have several books coming out next year. In February, Dino-Easter, my next book in the Dino-Holiday series (illustrated by Barry Gott) with Lerner/CarolRhoda will be available. Also, there will be new board book editions called My First Dino-Soccer and My First Dino-Baseball arriving in the Spring. Then, I’m excited to have another book with Dial on the summer 2022 list called Baby Shower. Illustrated by Charlie Adler, it’s a fun celebration of wonderful babies.
LL: I’m very proud to share that I have illustrated the much anticipated picture book, Change Sings written by Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman, publishing September 21, 2021.
JB: What is one question you wish I had asked, and what is your answer?
LW: If you could work in the skilled trades, what job would you like to do?
Answer: I would love to tackle my nemesis–that shower! Amateur home improvement is nothing like the professionals. If I could apprentice under a professional and learn all the tricks of the trade, it would give me the confidence to try again, minus the tears.
Over to You…
What is your favorite book by either Lisa or Loren?
News and Updates
Find virtual events and interviews celebrating the release of Book 1 in the Cayuga Island Kids series, The Mystery of the Barking Branches and the Sunken Ship. If you’re local to Western New York, check out the details of the outdoor book launch event taking place at Jayne Park, the setting for the series, on May 8th!
Celebrate Children’s Book Week 2021! Download activities and instructions for drawing favorite characters.
This April marks the 25th anniversary of National Poetry month! Find Children’s Book Corner posts dedicated to poetry here and here. Find a list of novels-in-verse here.
Recently released poetry titles of note include:
Delicious! Poems Celebrating Street Food Around the World by Julie Larios, illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Everything Comes Next: Collected & New Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye
The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng
Penn State University Libraries and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book have announced the 2021 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. This year’s winner is On the Horizon by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak. Honor awards were given to Ice! Poems About Polar Life by Douglas Florian and Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam.
The Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry is awarded annually by the Bank Street College of Education for the best poetry book for children.
Find “Poetry Is the Light: Children Need to Let Their Words Shine” on the NCTE blog written by children’s author and educator Valerie Bolling, about teaching poetry; inspired by Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” (soon to be released as a picture book entitled Change Sings illustrated by Loren Long).
Poetry for Children blog post: “Black Poetry Matters”
Final Thought
“If [teachers] asked, ‘Where does this take you?’ or ‘What does this remind you of in your own life?’ anything might happen. A new poem might light up.”~ Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People’s Poet Laureate
I’m a great fan of Lisa Wheeler and her books. Someone Builds the Dream is new classic, in my opinion, and is heartfelt by both author and illustrator. I think it’s interesting that Loren Long also illustrated a poem by Walt Whitman since he, too, liked to sing about all the people who make America a vibrant, thriving place. Lisa’s words share in that tradition: she captures the spirit of creativity and ingenuity that can apply as much to building a bridge as to creating a picture book. Thank you, Judy, for introducing Someone Builds the Dream to teachers and readers of all ages. I hope Lisa and Loren are “showered” with well-deserved praise for this wonderful and moving book.