In addition to children, do you see this as a crossover book for teens and adults?

You're never too young or too old to dream! In Dream, I wanted to create a multigenerational book, a book that reaches all ages on different levels. Dream is certainly a book for children. It's also an inspiring book for adults, and a gift book for all ages for milestones from a birth to a birthday to a graduation (pre-school to high school!).

Whether you're a child or an adult, we all have hopes and dreams. Dream is about individual hopes and dreams, and the hopes we have for our world. To be human is to hope and to dream. We can't overlook that part of ourselves. As adults, we have to remember it for ourselves and encourage it in our children.

The story in Dream begins as a traveler wandering a barren desert finds the Dream Chest at the end of a rainbow. As the traveler opens the chest, a wise old star emerges to guide the traveler -- and the reader -- through a colorful journey of a lifetime. The first part of the book is at the level of the individual. The story then opens up to the level of humanity with a striking series of three full-page spreads. It concludes by returning to the level of the individual within the context of "something bigger." The old star encourages both the traveler and the reader to pursue their own dreams.

For children, I wanted to create a smart book filled with thought-provoking ideas and images. The world of children's picture books is filled with impossibly cute bunnies and pigs spinning plates. Those kinds of books are fun. But I think there's an important place for books like Dream too. If you want smart kids, expose them to smart books -- and then talk about them! Dream can prompt many different kinds of conversations, from parents and grandparents sharing stories about their hopes and goals to children becoming aware of what their own dreams might be.

The book has four distinct layers to it: the story; the illustrations; historical quotations at the bottom of each spread; and the page backgrounds. The colorful page backgrounds and the repetition in the book engage younger children. The familiar "make a wish upon a star" imagery is also something all children can relate to, and they enjoy hunting for the star each illustrator has hidden in their illustration. Older children are able to engage with more of the meaning of the story text, asking questions and drawing on their own experiences (even a child can feel that a certain task -- from cleaning their room to doing homework -- is "too big, too long, too hard"). Older children are also often engaged by the quotations throughout the book. This book should be a springboard into discussion and inquiry.

Another goal of the book is to expose children to a variety of artistic styles and approaches, and encourage their visual literacy. The illustrators have used all kinds of mediums, from watercolor, pen-and-ink, colored pencil, and oil to chalk pastels, plasticine, acrylic, collage, and digital. Each artist chose to participate in the book because they believe not only in the power of dreams, but in the power of art to inspire us to achieve those dreams. The two-page endnotes about the illustrations -- which include useful questions parents and teachers can use to guide children through the illustrations -- prompt a deeper exploration of the book.

But the book is getting publicity in everything from family and parenting magazines to AARP magazine -- which shows you its wide appeal. Teens are drawn into the book through the images and the quotations. And for adults, it offers what I call the "core essences" of what's important in living and dreaming. It distills it all down to the basics through art and words that reach both your left and right brain. This is all based on social science research that has looked at how people achieve dreams and goals throughout their life. What parent or grandparent wouldn't want to share that with a child to help them be successful in their life? And what adult doesn't want some insights into holding onto hope in a world that can sometimes overwhelm the best of us?

In some ways, this is a sophisticated book. But it's also one with a simple message and wide appeal. When I was doing a signing at BookExpo to launch the book, there was a Hispanic woman standing shyly off to the side in her cleaning uniform. She passed a note to one of the people helping with the signing. In the note the woman explained in broken English that she didn't have any money. She had been cleaning the carpets in the publisher's booth the night before and had read Dream. She said the book was beautiful and asked if she could have one for her children. I was happy to sign a book to her children. And I even gave her three of our popular flashing "I'm a DREAMer" pins -- one for each of her children, and one for her. You're never too young or too old to dream.