Zage's wacky, rhyming text and Watkin's comical caricature illustrations combine to make this a funny and unique book. Zage portrays himself as a fourth grade boy who dreams big when the teacher asks the class to answer the question, “What I want to be.” From an astronaut to a chef, singer, lawyer and a slew of other professions, Zage imagines himself in these prestigious positions, but is quickly put down because he's told he doesn't have the skills to do any of those things. Until his mom tells him it's okay to dream big.

We liked the message this story conveyed, and we liked the references to people, landmarks, expressions, and places that were further defined and explained using the glossary included in the back of the book. Both my hubby and I read this book to my eight-year-old son on different occasions and felt it was culturally rich, allowing us to talk about art, architecture, astronomy, music and the different professions out there. The author used puns, tongue-in-cheek humour and the illustrations to show how vivid his young imagination was and, equally, how quickly one's dreams can be shot down.

My son liked the illustrations and reading the book with us. It led to discussions of what one can be when they grow up.I think it would be difficult for him to understand all the text on his own because of all the references, but it seems to me the author intended this to be a book for parents to share with their youngsters. It certainly is an inspiring book that will allow parents to get a glimpse into how big their own kids can dream and encourage them to do so. Oh, and I just have to say, that the cover with it's multiple stars against a mauve to purple-black ink sky is just fabulous!

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

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