Book 223: Scuffy the Tugboat

Scuffy the Tugboat, by Gertrude Crampton, illustrated by Tibor Gergely, Little Golden Book, 1946.

I bought this book for the artwork.  That is not to say that the story is bad -- it isn't bad -- it's just that the artwork is better.

Scuffy, the toy tugboat, thought he was too big for the toy shelf, so the toy store owner brought him home.  Then Scuffy thought he was too big for the bathtub, so the toy store owner and his son took Scuffy to the brook.  But it was Spring and the brook was in high spirits.  And high-spirited brooks lead to rivers, and rivers lead to the sea.  And toy tugboats are far too small for the sea.

So, the story isn't bad.  In fact, it is quite good.  But the illustrations are so perfect that I remember them after nearly forty years.