Stein Erik Lunde (text) Øyvind Torseter (illustrations)

My father's arms are a boat

Striking illustrations in this poignant tale of love, loss and comfort
The boy in this winter night story cannot sleep; therefore it’s good to have daddy’s there to answer all his questions. Like are the red birds sleeping? Do the foxes eat their food? And most importantly: is mummy sleeping?
In this starry and quiet picture book, we meet a confident father and an anxious boy who take care of each other in the vast winter night. Dagsavisen’s reviewer wrote: “The picture book as a whole comes across as plain and sober. The choice of colours is frugal, with nuances in grey, black and white, with dashes of red and yellow. A children’s book that shows how successful a work can become when the words and drawing of two acclaimed artists meet.” My Father’s Arms are a Boat received the Ministry of Culture’s Prize for the best picture book in 2008. The jury said: “Big feelings expressed in a minimalist fashion. The text and illustrations communicate with and complement each other to create a rich and complex whole in which the details are the most important. Exciting, evocative and poetic.” The Kirkus Review wrote: "A young boy, grieving and unable to sleep, climbs into his father’s steady arms to find warmth and reassurance in this luminous story about loss, love and healing. [...] A breath taking masterpiece." My Father’s Arms are a Boat was nominated for the 2011 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.

US edition available.