Scout the Mighty Tugboat – Charles Beyl

  Scout the Mighty Tugboat – Charles Beyl, Albert Whitman & Co., 9780807572641, 2020 

Format: PDF Review Copy (Hardcover available September, 2020)

Rating:  1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5

Genre: Picture Book

 What did you like about the book? This is an adorable story about a tugboat named Scout and her many adventures in one day on the bay. Scout begins her day pushing and pulling huge cargo ships filled with containers loaded with all kinds of supplies. Next, she is called to haul a cruise ship through the bay out into the open ocean. She makes more trips pushing and pulling cargo ships many times her size and all the time she is working, she has a huge smile on her face (yes, the tugboats in this story have faces!). Toward the end of the day, Scout is called to an emergency–an oil tanker’s engine won’t work and it is getting dangerously close to a cluster of sharp rocks. Scout arrives to help, but the job is much too big for her alone. She sends out a radio signal and calls in several other tugboats to help. With them all working together, they are able to avert a huge disaster and bring the oil tanker safely to the port. At the end of a long day, Scout heads back through the beautiful bay for a much-needed rest.

There are several opportunities in the story for children to join in with repeated words such as “chug”, “push”, “pull”, “help”, “soar”, “tow”, “splash”, “rumble”, and “burble”. This is a great way for children to participate in the story. Also, the book is filled with vivid illustrations using every color of the rainbow. Scout and the other tugboats have simple faces, so the reader can see when they are happy, worried, working hard, and simply enjoying their time on the water.

Anything you did not like about the book. Nothing

To whom would you recommend this book? This book is perfect for children between the ages of two and five years old. I would recommend this book to a child who loves to participate with readings because there are many opportunities for that with this story.

Who should buy this book? Public libraries, daycare centers, preschools, anyone who works with children between the ages of two and five years old.

Where would you shelve it? Picture books

 Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes, provides a little insight into the job of tugboats that children might not otherwise know.

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Kristin Guay, former youth services librarian.

Date of review: May 6, 2020