Dream Big {Book Review and Giveaway}

Posted by ~Summer~ on October 08, 2014
in

I have a dream, a song to sing 
To help me cope with anything 
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale 
You can take the future even if you fail 
I believe in angels 
Something good in everything I see 
I believe in angels 
When I know the time is right for me 
I'll cross the stream, I have a dream

What was your dream when you were a kid?

I know my dream gradually evolved along the years but the two things I have always wanted to be were a teacher and a mother. Yes, I did dream of becoming an entrepreneur too but deep know, I did realise that was a little too far-fetched. In a sense, most of my dreams came true for me and even up till this day, I still have the passion to teach and the desire to raise my own kids.

Remember I told you that at four years old, Angel has a long list of ambitions including wanting to be a teacher, doctor and zookeeper? While I do think it is totally fine for her to slowly find a sense of direction in her life and determine what she truly wants to be in future, I also think I ought to let her know about the importance of having a dream. That was even more emphasized by the fact that instead of stating her own ambition during her Show and Tell session in school, she decided to copy her best friend instead and announced that she wanted to be a singer.

Dream Big, the second in Nick Vujicic's Give Me a Hug series, is the perfect book to start teaching my girl about having dreams, learning from failure and overcoming fear with courage.

While the first book shares the stories of Nick from childhood to adulthood, Dream Big describes Nick's adventures in pursuing his dream. Through eight chapters and principles of life, Nick shares about the challenges he faced and the precious lessons he gained from his experiences.




"A dream?
What is a dream?
To have a dream is to have faith and to pursue life with purpose. Our life is driven by our dream.
Dream exists in our hearts long before it comes true. 
Just like a tree. Before it grows to be a tree, a seed has to be planted."

I like how Nick sees a dream as a seed. Likewise, I too believe that there is a seed of dream in every child's heart and with good care like positive words, nurturing care and acts of love, these seeds will grow to become big, strong trees. On the other hand, negative thoughts and discouraging words will only channel negative energy and water the seeds with polluted water.



Like the first book, at the end of every chapter, there will be a summary of the lesson learnt. For me, I think this might be too difficult for Angel to comprehend and I have to translate it in layman's terms for her. Actually, I do think the lessons learnt are more suited for the parents to read and act as constant reminders for ourselves. Other than encouraging children to have a dream, this book also reminds parents to give positive strength and have faith in our kids so that they can have believe in themselves in the first place.



It was also interesting and enlightening to read about the challenges that Nick faced in his life adventures, for instance how he learnt to pick himself up from a fall using his head, how he overcame his fear of jabs and how he made 53 calls before he finally found a school who was willing to let him speak to the students. We see him as a successful and renowned motivational speaker now but what we do not realise is that it took him a lot of effort, perseverance and faith to get to where he is today. And all this would not have come true if he did not have a dream when he was just a child.


Once again, the charming, vibrant illustrations by Dreamergo in Dream Big help to emphasize the message in every story and never fail to capture the attention of the readers. In fact, Angel loves the drawings so much that she will scrutinize them and ask me about every detail, which in turn betters her understanding about the story.

I was going to ask her which of the two books by Uncle Nick (yes, we call him that) she prefers and when I was looking for them, I saw that she had removed both Dream Big and Give Me a Hug from her library and kept them in a drawer in her cupboard. Well, I guess I can say that these books definitely have a special place in her room and her heart.

May all our dreams come true.

******

If you are keen to get a copy of Dream Big, here's a giveaway whereby two lucky readers of A Happy Mum will be receiving this motivational and delightful book.


To participate, comment in this blog post and and leave your name, email address and answer the question "What was your dream as a child?". This giveaway is open to all readers with a valid Singapore address for delivery. Indicate in the Rafflecopter widget that you have commented and to increase your chances of winning, follow the rest of the options. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: We received a copy of Dream Big for review purpose. All opinions are our own. 


37 comments:

  1. I dreamt to be a great scientist. I'm a defence science engineer now, so my dream is sort of fulfilled.
    Teo Yee Long
    trantrulla@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. My childhood dream was to become a good teacher and also a happy& healthy person when grow up.
    Lee Ling
    ll_khor@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow.. My gal likes to have this awesome book and I think this book can help to motivate her too.

    KaRen Ong
    karen_opk@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. My dream as a child was to be a missionary /teacher in less developed countries - Julia (Jule_Chan@hotmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  5. My dream as a child is to stay in the kampong and feed the chicks, ducklings and piglets
    Pam Wong
    pamwong_diver@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  6. My childhood dream was to be a teacher to little children.

    Lu Siu Ching
    precious_qing@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  7. I dreamt to be a teacher and though my dream didn't come true, I am still coaching my three sons every night.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As a child, my dream was to help people in need and make them happy and smile.

    Joy Agahari
    joyagahari@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. My dream was to have a happy family because i grew up in an orphanage and yes though the journey was full of obstacles...i am happily married with two gorgeous daughter

    Mandee
    pickles.dee@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. My childhood dream was to become an aspiring teacher.

    Evelyn Hu
    xuelyn@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. With dreams come hopes.
    I hope my boy will always dream big!:)
    serena_chua@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  12. My childhood dream was to be a flight attendant where I could travel around the world to see, hear & experience new things.

    Katherine Teng
    Tassie1995@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  13. My dream is to be a fashion designer.
    Lyn Teo
    lp8834@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think it will be a good guide for my boys.

    Natalie T.
    Mama.Lavie@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. I would like to share the book with my son who sometimes struggle with social issues

    ReplyDelete
  16. To be a marine biologist and save the sharks! - Meiyi (littledetour@hotmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  17. My dream was to go to under develop countries to help build their community.

    Pmbabe
    Pm_sgbrides@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dreamt of being my own boss. Today it is a reality, even if it is just a humble little shop.

    Robert Sim
    robert_sim@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. My childhood dream is to be a police officer.
    Jingxian
    j_xian@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I dreamt of being a teacher! Glad I managed to fulfil that dream, albeit until Noah came along. ;)
    Adeline / growingwiththetans@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Growing up in a family full of pilots and stewardess, I dreamt of becoming one myself....was happy I got to fulfil my dreams :) and now my lifetime dream is to be spending every waking hour with my 2 babies as a SAHM!!!

    Jamiechaw@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. My dream is to open a cafe that sells my cakes and cookies.
    Joeanne Shim
    joeanneshim@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. My dream as a child was to be a teacher!
    Name: Susan
    Email address: susan{at}ajugglingmom {dot} com

    ReplyDelete
  24. my dream as a child was to be a dancer and I'm currently moving small steps to realising my dream <3
    name: minghui
    email: joyce_virgo@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. My childhood dream was to be a teacher.
    Cynthia Lau
    edenie98@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. My childhood dream was to be a engineer, just like my father.
    Mabel Chow huhankuaile@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dream to become a pilot and fly around the world
    Alan Tan
    alantanchoonchai72@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  28. I dreamt of becoming the next national swimmer like Joscelin Yeo! Well, I thought someone will talent spot me but it did not happen.

    Wenqi
    casperian05(@)gmail(.)com

    ReplyDelete
  29. My childhood dream was to become an astronaut or become a police inspector. Haha! I am neither now.

    cmeilim@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. My childhood dream was to become a fashion designer :-)

    Kaye Wong
    kayetky@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Dream of becoming millionaire
    Teo Han Choo
    teohanchoo@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  32. I dream of becoming a teacher as my teacher seems to have the answer to all questions.
    Serene Leow
    Liaoserene@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. My childhood dream was to be a policewoman.
    Wong Kang Hui
    kangarules@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. My dream was to be a teacher.
    Xgg Chan
    chanxgg@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Haha when i was young i actually dream of bring a stay at home mummy to be with my children 24 7. See ! Now i am one 😊
    Name : Amanda Soh
    Email: amandasoh@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. My simple dream as a child was to be a teacher.
    Name: Karen
    Email: heart_ocean03@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  37. I wanted to be a pilot.

    M Lim
    nursingcow@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Yoohoo, thanks so much for reading my blog and leaving your comment! I am feeling the love! (^.^)