Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky.
Title: Little Toot.
Author: Hardie Gramatky.
Artist: Hardie Gramatky.
Genre: Fiction, children's lit, picture books.
Country: U.S.
Language: English.
Publication Date: 1939.
Summary: The story features Little Toot, a small young tugboat in New York Harbor who does not want to tug. Instead, he would rather play and be a nuisance to all the other tugboats. But when he ends up all alone on the open ocean as a storm is rolling in, it is up to him to save a grounded ocean liner.
My rating: 8.5/10.
My review:
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His name is Little Toot. And this name he came by through no fault of his own. Blow hard as he would, the only sound that came out of his whistle was a gay, small -toot-toot-toot.
But what he couldn't create in sound, Little Toot made up for in smoke. From his chubby smokestack he would send up a volley of smoke balls which bubbled over his wake like balloons. Hence, when he got all "steamed up," Little Toot used to feel very important...
Then the flag at his masthead would dance like the tail of a puppy dog when he's happy...
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His father, Big Toot, is the biggest and fastest tugboat on the river. Why, Big Toot can make even more smoke and kick up more water than any of the other boats put together.
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As for Grandfather Toot, he is an old sea dog who breathes smoke...
and tells of his mighty deeds on the river.
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J. G. McGillicuddy had little love for other tugboats, anyway, and a frivolous one like little Toot made him mad. As witness...
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Poor Little Toot. He was ashamed and angry, but there was nothing he could do about it except blow those silly smoke balls...
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The sight of that brave, bustling work made Little Toot think. He thought harder than ever in his life, and then-all of a sudden-a great idea burst over him. He wouldn't be a silly, frivolous little tugboat any more. He would work like the best of them. After all, wasn't he the son of Big Toot, the mightiest tug on the river? Well, he would make Big Toot proud of him. He'd show them all! Full of ambition, he started eagerly downstream.
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Floating aimlessly downstream he grew sadder and sadder until he was utterly miserable. He was sunk so deep in his own despair he didn't even notice that the sky had grown dark and that the wind was whipping up into a real storm.
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It was truly a terrible thing to see...
Little Toot went wild with excitement! He began puffing those silly balls of smoke out of his smokestack...
♥ And as he did, a wonderful thought struck him. Why, those smoke balls could probably be seen 'way up the river, where his father and grandfather were. So he puffed a signal, thus...
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Even Grandfather Toot was bellowing he had never seen such a storm.
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It was Little Toot. Not wasting his strength butting the waves as they had done. But bouncing from crest to crest, like a rubber ball. The pounding hurt like everything, but Little Toot kept right on going.
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Little Toot was a hero! And Grandfather Toot blasted the news all over the river.
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