What does Wrocław look like from a child’s perspective? Where could you hide a spaceship? Which park is perfect for a walk that might move you? What should an ideal playground look like, and why do we need more carpet beaters in the city?
“Book of Dreaming. Wrocław” is an alternative city guide created by more than 80 children from Poland, Ukraine and other parts of the world who live in Wrocław. The young authors shared their own visions of the city, personal experiences, dreams and observations. The publication features original maps, suggested walks, descriptions of favourite and secret places, urban legends, reflections on everyday life and ideas for the future.
The result is a portrait of Wrocław that cannot be found in official guidebooks — a city full of courtyards, friendships, animals, imagination and small stories hidden between familiar addresses.
The book premiere took place on 26 June 2026 during the 24th SURVIVAL Art Review in Wrocław. The event was an opportunity to meet the young authors of the publication and to look at the city together from the perspective of children, whose voices are rarely included in stories about urban spaces.
The book was created as part of the international project “The Book of Dreaming. Integrating Ukrainian children with refugee experience through art”, carried out simultaneously in Wrocław, Lviv, Riga and Budapest. The project used art, storytelling and the collective creation of a publication as tools for building relationships between children living in different European cities.
Through artistic activities, the project created a space for meeting, collaboration and mutual understanding beyond the boundaries of language, origin and history, supporting the integration of children with refugee and migration experiences.
The publication was curated by Beckie Darlington and Andy Field from the “Book of Your Town” project. The book was illustrated by Katja Drozd.
