Customer Reviews

Scuffy the Tugboat and His Adventures Down the River

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

.

"Scuffy the Tugboat" is a classic in childrens literature. It has an almost iconic status with people who grew up in the early Baby Boomer years.

Way back in 1946, toy stores were quiet uncrowded places. In one toy shop there was a rocking horse, a GI Joe Doll and a few cuddly soft toys ........ and one grumpy red painted tugboat called Scuffy.

Scuffy was ambitious. He thought he was meant for bigger things, than just sailing in a bathtub.

The toy shop owner (with his memorable polka dot tie) and his little boy, took Scuffy off to a laughing brook. It was springtime and the brook was running fast. Scuffy was soon off on his adventure.

The pastoral world he passed through seemed placid, but at night the hooting owl gave him a fright.

The river got bigger and busier. Scuffy was proud because he knew it was HIS river. He was nearly squashed between two logs that were on their way to the sawmill. With the spring melt a great flood burst the rivers banks. A lady and her cow had to be rescued off her roof.

Pushed along by the floodwaters Scuffy arrived in the big city. It was a very noisy and busy place. When Scuffy tooted nobody noticed.

Scuffy was just about to be swept out to sea. He wished the man with the polka dot tie and his little boy could rescue him. Miracle of miracles, there they were just as Scuffy was about to pass the last bit off land. He was rescued.

Scuffy realises that sailing in the bathtub is not such a bad thing ...... in fact he said "this is the life for me".

The illustrations by Tibor Gergely are what make this book so appealing. The scenes are full of life and activity, be it the pastoral river scene with its friendly animals and the colourful towns and cities. Look for the details in the city scene. Try to find the horses.

Tibor Gergely was a great children's book illustrator from this period. In addition to his artwork in Scuffy you can enjoy his illustrations in those other "Little Golden Book" classics, "The Little Red Caboose" and "Tootle". These three books are perfect companions in any young person's library.

In the early 1950's I was introduced to the wonders of the the world when my parents bought me "Scuffy". Who would have believed that a little red-painted tugboat could captivate me for nearly 50 years.

Scuffy, the brave and somewhat feisty little red- painted tugboat, tires of his existence of living in the toystore owned by the "man with the polka dot tie" and states that he was meant for "bigger things".

The bigger things leads Scuffy on an odyssey through quiet mountain brooks, singing streams, rushing rivers, floods and eventually the sea. On his journey, Scuffy meets cows, men in "great boots" pushing logs, victims of floods and the scariness of the big city. As Scuffy hurtles towards his ultimate destiny, the sea, he longs for the joy and comfort of the toy store and the love of the man with the polka dot tie. Just as Scuffy is about to pass the last piece of land, prior to entering the eternal sea, the man with the polka dot tie catches the frightened red- painted tugboat with the blue smokestack and returns him to the toystore and his new domain, the safe and calming waters of the bathtub.

A delightful work that will surely be requested night after night by children. It was my favourite and my daughter's favourite.

If the world's cynical intellectuals find this book threatening and offensive, it's only because they can't stop admiring themselves in the mirror or updating their resumes long enough to "get it". What we're supposed to take from reading Scuffy the Tugboat is NOT "play it safe - don't follow your dreams", but "maybe, just maybe your dreams aren't all they're cracked up to be". Who among us has never pursued something in life, only to realize, "hey, wait a minute, this wasn't what I thought it would be" or "it wasn't supposed to work out like this"?

Dreams (to say nothing of the "it's-all-about-me" movement) are transitory and ephemeral. I know The Perfect among us live in denial when it comes to regrets, but for the rest of us, this book reminds us that it's never too late to turn back or change your mind. As far as "empowerment" goes, what could be more empowering than being reunited with those who really love you? I've learned more from Scuffy than I did while receiving a college education. That children can understand what it's all about only increases my admiration. Highest of all possible recommendations!

Scuffy the Tugboat is a tale of appreciation in which a red-painted tugboat has the adventure of his life and learns to value the life he has rather than yearning for "bigger things." When Scuffy expresses displeasure with his toy store existence, the shop owner suggests that perhaps he would be happier if he went sailing. This benevolent shop owner takes Scuffy home and places him in a bath tub to sail. Convinced that he is meant for even bigger things, Scuffy is still not happy, so the shop owner takes him to a brook. Scuffy quickly learns that all water runs to the sea where a small tugboat finds himself quite vulnerable. Luckily, he is rescued just in time to avoid disaster. Gergley's use of line furnishes this anthropomorphic toy with facial features that complement and extend the text; therefore, at the end of the story, when the he has grown as an individual and matured, his transformation is not only evident in his speech and actions but also in his appearance. At the secondary level, Scuffy the Tugboat could serve as an easily accessible exemplar of dynamic characterization and the characteristics of the hero cycle explained by Peter R. Stillman in Introduction to Myth.

I loved Scuffy the Tugboat as a kid, and like Scuffy I wanted to do big things. I did do big things and I want my kids to do big things too. That's why I bought this book to read to them, though it was hard to find. There's something comforting to a child's mind to know that Scuffy is right: that there are bigger things out there than his bathtub. He goes out and sees the big world and the worst that happens to him is that he is scared. But his safe bathtub is still there to come home to. And even though we adults know that Scuffy will always be a toy and will never do big things, kids know that one day they will grow up and may be ready to see the big world and do big things. But until they grow up, their safe little bathtub will always be there to come home to. That's not how we adults logically see the book, but it is a story for children, and they don't draw conclusions based on a life of experience as we do.

Scuffy's sins are his pride, his presumptuousness, his imprudence, and even his lack of fortitude - occasioned by his sudden, chilling self-doubt; and just as he's about to sail off into the Great Unknown away from the one who loves him above all, our prodigal Scuffy is redeemed.


I have never forgotten this enduringly charming Golden Books fable of Redemption. 'Scuffy The Tugboat' has earned its everlasting place in the canon of illustrated children's literature. As Scuffy verges on the abyss, I hope the eyes of today's children yet widen with anxiety at his impending, unthinkably cruel fate, and that as I did long ago they too learn and cherish 'Scuffy's' poignant lesson of the sweetness, goodness, warmth, and solace of the promise of, and the hope in, Redemption.

My grandson really liked the book. listened o the story with attention

My father read me this when I was an infant and I have loved it ever since. Innocent and exciting, a perfect book for a small child coming to the magic of story-telling.

Scuffy was one of my favroite books as a child. I loved to follow him through his adventures along the river. Of course in the end he always wanted to be home in his own little bath tub making me glad to be home with my family.

Animation studios are desperate to find proven material for their feature films--especially in the wake of disappointments like "Treasure Planet."

That's why I'm surprised nobody has optioned the rights to one of the greatest children's books ever; it has emotion, thrills, an important lesson, and one of the cutest lead characters I've ever seen.

That book is, of course, "Scuffy the Tugboat."

Scuffy is a toy tugboat (hence the title) who dreams of something more than "sailing" in his little bathtub. When he is taken outside and accidentally swept away in a river, his harrowing adventure makes him realize that he should never have taken his old life for granted.

Just imagine Scuffy the Tugboat brought to life by CGI, charging down rivers, dodging logs and old tires...and facing the bustle of a busy shipyard before being miraculously recovered by his owner.

I can practically hear a popular actor like Ed Burns lending his distinctive voice to the little red tugboat, and Sting's nautical motif from "the Soul Cages" leads me to nominate him for the soundtrack.

As long as it's a faithful adaptation of this classic tugboat tale, nobody would ever be able to say: "the book was better!"