About the Author

Polly Dunbar is the award-winning author-illustrator of Penguin and Dog Blue, as well as the Tilly and Friends series. She is also the illustrator of Here’s a Little Poem by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, My Dad’s A Birdman by David Almond, and Shoe Baby, written by her mother, Joyce Dunbar. Polly Dunbar lives and works in Suffolk, England.

Reviews

Dunbar creates a whimsical image out of a play on words in this story about a young boy, Arthur, who awakens after an incredible dream.
—The New York Times

Dunbar imaginatively transforms a seaside memory of a small boy in the ocean and a boat on the distant horizon into Arthur's adventure with a dream boat... Humorous, exuberant pencil-and-watercolor illustrations... A real attention-getter.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Adding to the sizable bookshelf of titles that bear witness to the power of a child’s imagination, Dunbar introduces Arthur, a boy first seen yawning and stretching after waking up from an “amazing” dream. His dream was about a boat and....with a pink and green hull, red polka-dot flag, and garish blue-haired figurehead, Arthur’s boat pops, disrupting the sherbet palette of Dunbar’s loose, free-spirited illustrations the same way Arthur’s fantasies cut through the busyness and noise of modern life.
—Publishers Weekly

Children likely won’t mind being swept aboard Arthur’s dream boat and sailing off into the sunset.
—Booklist

The large trim size allows the mixed-media compositions to be easily seen from a distance, making this a welcome choice for storytimes.
—School Library Journal

An entertaining flight of the imagination, as well as a great read-aloud.
—Seven Impossible Things blog