Just a Dream   Chris VanAllsburg


This is a great fantasy story about Walter who does not like to recycle.  He throws his garbage down and thinks that the girl down the street who plants a tree for her birthday is a dork, until one night he has a dream that the world is full of garbage and can not exist the way it is supposed to.  He dreams there are no streets or houses and is all a garbage dump, and when he wakes he decides to change his ways and goes and picks up trash and he too decides to plant a tree for his birthday, and he marries that young girl who started the whole thing and tells his grandchildren about that tree when they get older.  This is a great fantasy story because it is realistic in nature but has futuristic tendencies in having flying cars, and the possibility of a garbage filled future if things do not change.  It also has amazing illustrations done by Chris Vanallsburg, which he is known for.  It is great for any age group, but is especially great for 1st-4th because it has a moral obligation and also has great content and is interesting.