Ten-year-old Peter Fortune has a vivid imagination. He understands just how it would feel to be a cat slinking around on soft paws, purring in the sun. He's experienced the terror and the excitement of being chased by evil dolls bent on vengeance. And he's felt the thrill of using a vanishing cream that can actually make people disappear.

Peter's imagination takes him to extraordinary places. But when it takes him to the place where reality and daydreams meet, has it finally taken him too far?

ANNOTATION

An imaginative ten-year-old boy, who is best understood by his family, recounts some of the adventures he has while daydreaming.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

His hand closed round something cold. He drew out a small dark blue jar with a black lid. On a white label was printer, "Vanishing Cream." He stared at these words a long time, trying to grasp their meaning. Inside was thick white cream whose surface was smooth. It had never been used. He poked the tip of his forefinger in. the substance was cold - not the hard, fiery cold of ice, but a round silky, creamy cool. He withdrew his finger and yelped in surprise. His fingertip had gone. Completely vanished. He screwed on the lid and hurried upstairs to his room. He put the jar on a shelf, kicked clothes and toys aside so that he could sit on the floor, with his back against the bed. He needed to think.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Most grown-ups think Peter Fortune is a difficult child because he is so quiet: they ``knew that something was going on inside that head, but they couldn't hear it or see it or feel it. They couldn't tell Peter to stop it, because they didn't know what it was he was doing in there.'' Actually, he is involved in one of his great adventures: exchanging bodies with his ancient pet cat, battling a troop of dolls come to life, making his parents disappear with a vanishing cream or discovering what it is like to be an adult falling in love. Through his daydreams, Peter learns to see the world from numerous points of view. He is the only boy at school, for example, who can recognize the weaknesses of a bully and feel compassion for him. In his first book for children, McEwan ( The Comfort of Strangers ; The Child in Time ) dextrously presents a series of strange and wonderful metamorphoses. His vivid and poetic writing, celebrating the creative abilities of a gifted 10-year-old, reveals a profound understanding of childhood. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 8-up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Most grownups think that 10-year-old Peter Fortune is a difficult child because he is so quiet, but through his daydreams he learns to see the world from numerous points of view. In a starred review, PW said, "McEwan's vivid and poetic writing reveals a profound understanding of childhood." Ages 8-up. (Dec.)

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Peter Fortune, 10, is a dreamer, and not everyone understands that. He has the usual problems with teachers who think he can't do his schoolwork when he's really just been too busy dreaming up ways to save the world. However, the focus of this book is not on the boy's troubles but rather on his fabulous daydreams. Each of the seven stories following the introduction is a separate adventure, probably occurring mostly in Peter's imagination but including an unusual twist to link it to a real situation. The mood is similar to Edward Eager's Half-Magic (Harcourt, 1954). Even though the magic is presented as real in that book and as imagination here, the connections to reality leave readers feeling that something out of the ordinary has happened, even if it is not stated as such. Peter's adventures include trading bodies with his cat, taming a bully, catching a burglar, and even waking up in the dreaded world of grown-ups, and young readers should have no trouble empathizing with his escapades. Less able readers may find the descriptive writing style a real challenge, but would enjoy hearing the stories read aloud. Brown's illustrations, one per chapter, capture the eeriness of the selections. A delightful blend of serious whimsy and hilarious gravity.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA