While wandering a barren desert,
a traveler comes upon the Dream Chest at the end of a rainbow. The chest has a curious carved star on its scooped lid. The traveler opens the chest. A wise old star emerges (a symbol of the eternal spirit and a mentor figure) and whisks the traveler away on the journey of a lifetime. The story ends with the old star encouraging both the traveler and the reader to pursue their own dreams. The birds in the two final illustrations tie to the Langston Hughes quotation on page 29 in Dream.

This husband-and-wife team have worked together for more than twenty years. They take a collaborative approach in which both artists conceive, draw, design, and paint. They have created artwork for annual reports, brochures, posters, ads, magazines, and even movies -- including Toy Story and A Bug's Life, for which they provided pre-production set and character designs. Their 25 books together include I Walk at Night (Lois Duncan), a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, along with Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days and The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss (Kathleen Krull).

"We always look for art. We see it in the night sky, the glow of light on a child's face, the magic of a good story, the fantastic world of dreams."

Find out more about Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher