Once There Was: A Picture Book

by Corinne Demas, Gemma Capdevila (Illustrator)

Overview

Corinne Demas’s Once There Was is a simple, modern fable about dreaming of being something else, transformations, and the interconnectedness of all things, featuring whimsical full-color illustrations by Gemma Capdevila.

In this magical, modern fairy tale, a girl dreams she is a princess. A princess dreams she is a horse. A horse dreams she is a tree, a tree a mountain, a mountain a moon, a moon a sea, a sea a girl.

This contemplative story plays on timely themes of aspiration and self-reflection but leaves room for interpretation, giving the book the potential to become a timeless classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951836658
Publisher:	Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,090,214
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Corinne Demas is the author of collections of short stories, novels, a memoir, poetry, plays, and numerous books for children, including The Perfect Tree, published by Cameron Kids. She lives with her family in western Massachusetts.
Gemma Capdevila is a fine artist and illustrator. Her magical work is inspired by the natural world, the ocean, and the forest. She lives in Barcelona.

Editorial Reviews

06/05/2023

In this tale that highlights the world’s natural beauty, a girl with light skin and flowing brown locks embarks on a flight of fancy, dreaming a series of interconnected scenarios in Demas’s cumulative-style fairy tale. Each segment of the outing begins with the titular phrase and indicates a progression from the child into the natural world. A girl who resides in a seaside cottage dreams she’s a princess “in a golden gown/ who lived in a castle/ in a misty forest.” The princess then dreams of being a horse, the horse dreams of being a tree, the tree dreams of being a mountain, and eventually a sea dreams that she is a little girl, circling back to the protagonist. Capdevila’s wispy landscapes nail the book’s ethereal mood while capturing awe-inspiring wilderness details including whales, snow-capped mountains, and crisp evergreens. The graceful blend of text and image offers readers a mind-expanding escape. Ages 5–7. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Spare, descriptive text is accompanied by rich, strikingly detailed watercolorlike illustrations. A magical tale that comes full circle, urging readers to dream big.”—Kirkus Reviews

"The graceful blend of text and image offers readers a mind-expanding escape."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2023-02-08
What do you dream about?

In a cascade of ever more lofty dreams, a tan-skinned girl who lives by the sea dreams of becoming “a princess in a golden gown who lived in a castle in a misty forest.” The girl, now a princess with a tiara, dreams of being “a horse with a flowing mane who lived in a meadow filled with flowers.” The horse in turn dreams of becoming a tree that then dreams of becoming a “great green mountain that rose so high she touched the clouds.” The mountain dreams she is the moon; the moon dreams that she is the sea; and the sea dreams that she is “a little girl who lived in a vine-covered cottage by the sea.” The final illustration returns readers to the original girl, and her sweeping hair blends with images of sea waves, a castle, and a horse, creating an artful summary of her imaginary journey that is now part of her. Spare, descriptive text is accompanied by rich, strikingly detailed watercolorlike illustrations. The simple story sends a message that it’s important to dream and to reach for the stars and the moon—and that someone just might be wishing they were you. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A magical tale that comes full circle, urging readers to dream big. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews