“The Chocolate Boat” by Teresita A. Bartolome
by ReadersMagnet | June 17, 2024 | Book Review | 0 Comments
It’s become common knowledge that dreams are a blend of real memories and subconscious thoughts. However, at what age does a human being actually start dreaming?
Surprisingly, Teresita A. Bartolome explores this neuroscience question with a children’s book titled The Chocolate Boat. The book just so happens to have won the RMazing Grand Bonanza Level 1-2, and its innocent plot and colorful illustrations belie something about the nature of dreams even in young children.
Bartolome is actually a retired kindergarten teacher whose focus was on special needs kids. In her research, she learned that even children as young as four could already start having vivid dreams. The story she tells in The Chocolate Boat was a dream tale passed down in her family and one she told her kids over 40 years ago.
Today, those children are all grown up, and have given her six grandkids to also share this story with. Yet even today, the reality of young children’s dreams still fascinates Bartolome, and the way she tells the story encourages readers to consider just how incredibly imaginative children’s minds are, even at such young ages.
Journeying Through the Dream
The Chocolate Boat is broken down into separate chapters that each describe a place. It focuses on a pair of little cousins, Grace and Amarie. Grace is the older of the pair, and throughout the story, she acts as a protective sister figure to Amarie, who is mostly enjoying herself through their trip.
The story kicks off with the pair enjoying their favorite flavors of ice cream in the middle of a theme park.
Things seem fairly normal at first. But in their next destination, things take a turn for the peculiar. Bartolome makes very artistic use of illustration to depict these unusual sights they encounter.
The first is a tree that seemed to be bearing jackfruit. But upon closer inspection, they realize that the fruit bears no spikes. Instead, they find strange, transforming rings of various colors. Some could be used as bracelets while others are tiny enough to be held in hand.
The next place they see is a house made entirely of cookies and doughnuts. Naturally, little Amarie is very eager to bite into the cookies she sees. But Grace, ever cautious and protective, wants to make sure they could take such sweets without permission.
As if on cue, an old and rather intimidating woman appears. She offers each girl a cookie but also sternly implores them to return to their parents. After all, children shouldn’t be without their company.
That is all Grace needs to hear to grab both cookies and Amarie’s hand and start looking for the way back. Amarie herself also begins to feel less comfortable with the strange place they are in.
It is at this point that the pair discover the titular chocolate boat and assume it could be their way out. However, things may not be as they appear, and the end reveals just how amusing the nature of dreams really is.
Children’s Dreams and Imagination
One of the big questions that Bartolome also asks at the end of the book is whether children can also recall the contents of their dreams.
It’s certainly a question worth asking since it goes a long way to explain the way young minds develop imaginations based on what they see in the world around them. Bartolome makes a very specific point about not clearly stating when Grace and Amarie begin their shared dream.
Combined with Bartolome’s vivid illustrations, The Chocolate Boat is another book that can really make readers of all ages think about what dreams are made of.
The Chocolate Boat by Teresita A. Bartolome is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and ReadersMagnet Bookstore.
