I got this when The Book Hive was opened in Norwich, & wanted to support the independents & I'd been looking for this for some time. & doubtless never found it because I don't browse the childrens/young peoples/ juveniles section. Its a wonderful book, the imagination flows over. I hope he writes another. ( )

The Daydreamer is an extremely cute book about a boy named Peter Fortune. He's a good boy except he has a wicked imagination. His ability to daydream himself out of reality gets him into trouble all the time. My favorite "dream" was when he is finally, finally allowed to ride the bus to school. His parents have decided he's not only old enough to take himself to school (at ten years old), but he is mature enough to take his seven year old sister, who goes to the same school, as well. Everything goes according to plan until Peter starts thinking about how he would protect his sister from anything...including a pack of hungry, drooling wolves. First he would take out his hunting knife, then his pack of matches, then he would...and before Peter knows it he is in the land of imagination, fighting off wild wolves. He is no longer riding a bus with his little sister on their way to school. It's halarious. ( )

This is series of short vignettes - all incidents in the life of ten-year-old Peter, who people think is difficult, because he is quiet and they don't know what he is thinking. In fact, Peter has an active imagination, one that gets him in to trouble, but also lets him empathise with others. Some of the stories are funny, like when his sister's dolls demand his room, or he uses vanishing cream to make his family disappear, or catches the crabby old lady down the street being a cat burglar. Some of the stories are deeply touching, like when he trades places with his elderly cat and his baby cousin. And a few adventures give Peter insight into himself, such as when he takes on the school bully, or imagines he's a grown up.
Although this is arranged as a chapter book, the stories are each self contained, an well drawn, Peter and his active imagination are entirely believable. I'd recommend this to kids the same age or a little bit younger - the range of stories means that there is something in here to appeal to most tastes. ( )