Few author-artists use bold graphic shapes for youngest book lovers as engagingly as Stephen Savage (Where's Walrus?) does. Here he creates a paper-over-board adventure story starring a little tugboat with a mighty sense of purpose, which doubles as a bedtime tale.
"Meet Little Tug," the book begins, as the fire engine‑red tugboat motors into a city harbor at daybreak. He travels under a drawbridge next to a still sleeping schooner. Gentle repetitive phrases point out that Little Tug is "not the tallest boat in the harbor," nor the fastest or biggest. But when the time comes, Little Tug helps all the other boats in the course of his day, pulling and pushing them to safety. As the sun sets and the sky darkens, Stephen Savage brings the action full circle in a comforting ending: the taller, faster, bigger boats that Little Tug has aided throughout the day repay the tuckered-out fellow in kind. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness