The scene where the boy and the penguin are drifting through the ocean in a small boat and come across a large number of floating rubber ducks is a reference to a real event. In January 1992 a shipping container containing 29,000 rubber bath toys including yellow ducks fell from the cargo ship 'Ever Laurel' in a storm. The container subsequently burst open releasing the toys into the ocean. This event proved to be an unexpected windfall for science as oceanographers were able to track ocean currents in a way never before possible.
The penguin was meant to be like Buster Keaton.
The original idea for this story was inspired by when Oliver Jeffers was on a field trip excursion to a zoo and one of the students stole a penguin.
In the library scene when the boy looks at the book shelf, all of the book spines were designed by Oliver Jeffers.