Reality and the vivid imagination of a young boy overlap in this delightful tale from the Caldecott Medal–winning author of The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship and How I Learned Geography. Dressed in a sailor's outfit and visiting his upstairs neighbor, the boy finds a model ship and goes off on an ocean adventure, but runs afoul of a fearsome pirate. Suddenly he is back in the Mintzes' apartment, and the pirate turns out to be a glaring portrait, from which he hides. In vibrant watercolor sketches, Uri Shulevitz pictures an episode from his own childhood in Warsaw, for readers 4 to 7.
"A revealing autobiographical glimpse and an excellent insight into the power of children's fantasies."—Horn Book
"The child-centered solution to the boy's problem proves, yet again, that this is the work of a wise and wonderful storyteller."—School Library Journal
"Shulevitz's lush transformations of reality into imaginary worlds are seamless and often breathtaking."—Booklist
