"childish dream" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a dream or ambition that seems naive or immature. Example: "As a child, Sarah had big, childish dreams of becoming a famous singer, but as she grew older, she realized the reality of pursuing a career in music."
But then there never was a blissful, childish dream that didn't have its secret, unwhisperable underbelly of anxiety and fright.
I had recalled a life that I had dreamed and then, having forgotten the childish dream, had nevertheless, somehow, unwittingly realized.
One pro-reform group, the Islamic Revolution Mujaheddini Organization, responded to the Revolutionary Guards communique by calling its goal "a childish dream".
"The future of the United States depends on whether we can escape from the childish dream world in which 'free trade' is The Good Fairy, and 'protectionism' is The Wicked Witch of the West," Mr. Culbertson wrote in an essay in 1986.
The air is alive with the sound of young people going: "Look at this amazing helicopter", and: "If I just draw an eye, here, you can see that I've turned your thumbnail into a panda!" When you ask an elf for a Furby, they direct you to the Build-a-Bear workshop, I guess hoping that when you notice how cool the bears are, you will put away your childish dream of a toy that no longer exists.
Over the years, however, my childish dream became a solid, concrete prospect for the future.
He knows that chances are slim that such childish dreams will be fulfilled, and that as the boy turns into a man he will learn to be more realistic, accept becoming a lawyer, a mechanic or an accountant.
Too many of us recall the school dinner misery of liver at its worst (there's a Germanic pun in there somewhere, but I'll let it pass) - grey, grainy slabs of Bisto-drenched underfelt that were guaranteed to banish any childish dreams that school food could ever bring you pleasure.
Wandering through the headquarters of Scholastic in Manhattan is like taking a trip back through time and childish dreams, to a fantastical kindergarten with brightly colored columns and desk dividers and, at the very end, a huge playroom filled with toys like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Goosebumps and Captain Underpants and, of course, J. K. Rowling's books about Harry Potter and his comrades.
Leaving Gormenghast means leaving behind childish dreams - whether of the past or the future.
I'm encouraged when people like Susan Faludi face grave challenges rather than hide behind childish dreams.
