We’ve all woken up with a start and thought, What was that? What’s the deal with that rooster? And why do I feel like I’ve seen this all before? We find dreams (at least our own!) endlessly interesting, but what are they actually saying about us?

How Dreams Speak is a book to help untangle it all. Based on the belief that dreams are metaphorical messages from our unconscious minds, speaking to us to help unlock mysteries within, How Dreams Speak is an illustrated guide to our inner selves through the vehicle of our nightly adventures. At the book’s heart are more than 150 dream symbols and themes richly illustrated in watercolour and fully explained to help readers interpret their dreams. A dream symbol can be an object - a doll, for example, which might mean your inner child needs to come out and play. An animal, like a giraffe - Freud thought they were phallic, but a more likely meaning is that the dreamer needs to reach up to gain a new perspective. An event, like the classic flying - it’s time to concentrate on achieving your waking dreams, or goals. Or a colour, a feeling (running late), a concept (invisibility). Multiple prompts accompanying each symbol help the reader explore what their unconscious is trying to say - what a symbol truly means depends on both the dream and the dreamer.

Author and artist Nicole Chilton brings us the science behind dreaming, including the fact that everyone dreams (those who think they don’t are just not remembering), the history and philosophy of dream interpretation, the different types of dreams we have, and tips on keeping a dream journal.