Puss Reboots: Blog: January 2023: Scuffy the Tugboat

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Scuffy the Tugboat: 01/26/23

Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton (1946) is one of my favorite Little Golden Books. It was part of my mother's childhood library which I then added to and later my brother added to. Color me delighted to see it available now as an ebook.

Scuffy is a toy tugboat who dreams of adventure. The owner of the toy store where he's waiting to be sold decides to take him to a stream. What follows is Scuffy's trip down stream towards the ocean.

Women washing laundry in the creek. Two cows standing down stream. One cow is looking at Scuffy.

What makes this book for me are the illustrations by Tibor Gergely (1900-1978). His beautifully rendered landscapes full of animals, people, trees, flowers, architecture and vehicles brings the child along for Scuffy's adventure. The use of darker, more saturated hues highlights the growing danger the tugboat is in as he approaches the ocean.

Gertrude Crampton and Tibor Gergely collaborated on another favorite of mine, Tootle the Engine (1945). He also wrote and illustrated, Busy Day, Busy People (1973), another oft-read book of mine.

Five stars