THE LITTLE RED STEAMER

Lian and her father, the Captain, have a rewarding yet quiet life ferrying people around the Islands in their beloved boat, until disaster strikes.

Maland’s cartoon-style pen and pencil art, with digital color added, cheerfully conveys the Little Red Steamer’s satisfaction at transporting passengers, both children and adults, to school and to work, where they “ask and learn…build and mend…help and heal.” But everything changes when a sudden squall sweeps the little craft out to sea, with Lian and the Captain aboard. Maland’s strong black lines work well in conveying the peril of the Little Red Steamer amid the swirling waves, and his text supports the tension with lines like “she bustled and blustered across a stormy sea.” As days pass and the Captain and Lian collapse with exhaustion, the Little Red Steamer realizes that she must save them all. Eventually they find themselves being dangerously swept by the tide into a crowded harbor, but a tugboat comes to the rescue—and seems none too happy about it (“You’re too broken to be here”). Now high and dry on land, the Little Red Steamer appears to be beyond repair, but Jim and Ava, another father-daughter pair, show up to help with the restoration. In a pleasant conclusion, it’s the two daughters who continue the tradition of carrying passengers, now around the harbor of a big city. Lian and the Captain are brown-skinned; Jim and Ava are pale-skinned.

A satisfying adventure for boat devotees.