Littlest One is a tiny creature slowly learning her job of giving dreams to humans. Each night she and her teacher, Thin Elderly, visit an old woman's home where she softly touches beloved objects, gathering happy memories, and drops of old scents and sounds. Littlest One pieces these bits together and presents them to her sleeping human in the form of pleasant dreams. But the dreaded Sinisteeds, dark fearsome creatures that plague their victims with nightmares, are always at work against the dreamgivers. When the old woman takes in John, an angry foster child with a troubled past, the Sinisteeds go after him with their horrifying nightmares. Can Littlest One, and her touch light as gossamer, protect John's heart and soul from the nightmare of his dark past?

I loved this story so much that I unconsciously hugged the book after reading. ( )

This book would be good for upper elementary or middle grades. It is about a dream bestower and her battle against nightmare bestowers. I would use this as an option for a book project.

A short and sweet fairytale about where dreams and nightmares come from and the discovery of self. Very short (took me less than an hour to read) but wonderful imagery and salient characterization of varying types. ( )

TW: child abuse, domestic abuse, nightmares

For fans of A Monster Calls, Gossamer tells the tale of a dream-giver and the young boy she bestows dreams upon. He is a troubled child with an unsettling past, and he needs all the good dreams he can get, especially with the Sinisteed Horde that is fast approaching him, intent on giving him horrible nightmares.

"Sad parts are important ... you must include the sad parts, because they are part of the story, and they have to be part of the dreams."

The book is short and bittersweet, with darker themes than most of Lowry's work. I wish that there was more in this world, as it is very interesting and unique. I love sandman-esque stories. The worldbuilding was well done and the characters were all excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Change means leaving things behind, and that's always sad."

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