"S.S." GIGANTIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: The Story of the World's Biggest Ocean Liner Ever [Hardcover]

Peter Selgin (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999 | Age Level: 6 and up

A huge ocean liner.

A sea full of icebergs.

Little Pip-Squeak is the lookout on the "S.S." Gigantic, and it's his job to make sure that the largest ship in the world crosses the Atlantic safely. Is he big enough for the job?

In this hilarious tale of titanic proportions, Peter Selgin proves that size isn't everything.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 5At last, an antidote for those seeking to satisfy the Titanic thirst in young patrons, but who are unable to face another DiCaprio clip. This timely send-up records the maiden voyage of the worlds Biggest Ocean Liner Ever: Its SO gigantic, it can travel around the world without moving! The ship boasts a passenger list of billionaires, the likes of Dr. and Mrs. Iadore Myself and Benjamin Bigbehind. It is young Pip-Squeak (the lookout with extraordinary vision) who narrates, recounting the disastrous effects of the dreaded SEA THUMBTACK on the vessels rubber hull. Selgins comic-book art is executed with gouache in a palette of primary colors and black. His dynamic designs sweep across the pages with consistently sharp attention to detail, from the endpapers to the Bar-Code Barge that is being towed across the books back cover. The artwork is accompanied by an equally animated text. Pair this with Judi Barretts Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Atheneum, 1978) or Anne Isaacss Swamp Angel (Dutton, 1994) for a storytime of gargantuan proportions and great fun.Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

There's high adventure, indeed, in this hilarious tall tale, which begins, "Call me Pip-Squeak." Children won't catch the reference to Moby Dick, but they will immediately recognize the spoof of the unsinkable ocean liner, setting sail again, this time as the S.S. Gigantic. Captain Bragg is at the helm, and Pip-Squeak, our narrator, is in the crow's nest of the incredible ship, which is so huge that it takes a lifetime to walk from bow to stern and it needs one million propellers. Passengers include tycoon Benjamin Bigbehind and Dr. and Mrs. Isadore Myself. On its maiden voyage, while other ships are striking icebergs and sinking, the S.S. Gigantic actually sinks an iceberg, confirming all the more the ship's seaworthiness. But meet its doom it must, and children will delight at the surprise ending. The cornball-style illustrations offer graphic nonsense and funny asides aplenty. Shelley Townsend-Hudson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068982467X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689824678
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Selgin won the 2007 Flannery O'Connor Award for Fiction (Drowning Lessons, UGA Press, 2008), and the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Prize for Best Novel (The Water Master). His first novel, Life Goes to the Movies, was a finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship and the AWP Award for the Novel and was named one of the Best Books of 2009 by ForeWord Magazine.

Selgin's most recent book is Confessions of a Left-Handed Man, a memoir-in-essays, published by the University of Iowa Press/Sightline Books. A second memoir, "Landscape w/ English Teacher," was short-listed for both the Bakeless Prize and the Graywolf Press Prize. He is also the author of two books on writing craft, By Cunning & Craft, and 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers (both from Writers Digest Books), as well as several picture books for children. He is a faculty member of Antioch University's MFA writing program and is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Rollins College.

His stories and essays have appeared in dozens of publications, including Salon, The Sun, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, Missouri Review, Colorado Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review, and in the anthologies Our Roots Are Deep With Passion (Other Books, 2006), Writing Fiction (Bloomsbury, 2003), Writers and Their Notebooks, (University of South Carolina Press, Summer 2009), and Best American Essays, 2006. He leads an annual writing workshop in Italy, and is the fiction and nonfiction editor of Alimentum: the Literature of Food http://www.alimentumjournal.com/.

Before turning full-time to writing, Peter earned his living as a visual artist and illustrator, with work appearing in The New Yorker, Gourmet, The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Fine Gardening, and many other magazines. His series of naive paintings of the Titanic were the subject of articles in the Wall Street Journal and on NPR and Fox's Good Morning, America.

As a playwright, Peter has won national competitions. Three of his plays were finalists for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwright's Conference, where his full-length drama, A God in the House, based on Dr. Kevorkian and his suicide machine, had its world premiere.

Peter's hobbies include swimming in all seasons in any body of water available (preferably a lake), and daydreaming at sunny cafe tables.

Peter's website: http://www.peterselgin.com/; Peter's blog: http://dreamingonpaper.blogspot.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call me Pip-squeak!, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: "S.S." GIGANTIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: The Story of the World's Biggest Ocean Liner Ever (Hardcover)

Hooray for Pip-Squeak, a gutsy little guy with a huge appetite for adventure and a heart as open as his ever-gasping mouth! The Titanic story as a four-year-old Herman Melville might have told it, with pictures by Dr. Seuss and text by Ripley's Believe-it-or-Not! In dazzling primary colors! Read it--but don't give away the ending.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book!, February 25, 2011

By 

Andrea (Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: "S.S." GIGANTIC ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: The Story of the World's Biggest Ocean Liner Ever (Hardcover)

This is one of my son's favorite books. It's similar to the Titanic story, but it isn't sad and is quite funny. I really enjoy reading this book to my children

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent children's storybook!, June 8, 2010

By 

Charlotte L. Ward - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: S.S. Gigantic Across the Atlantic: The Story of the World's Biggest Ocean Liner Ever! (Paperback)

Bright, fun, amazingly illustrated.
I highly recommond this book for children of all ages!