Little Toot

By Hardie Gramatky

Copyright 1939

Little Toot is a silly, nervous little tugboat – scared of the wild seas outside the channel.  He prefers to have fun where the waters are calm, blowing smoke rings and gliding in figure eights.  Eventually, the other little tugboats making fun of his frivolous ways force him to look inside himself and discover the desire to prove his worth and make a mark on the world.  But when he tries to help, they don’t believe he has changed and push him out of the way.  

  

Lost in despair, Little Toot drifts away, not noticing that the skies are growing stormy and dark.  Suddenly, out in the wild ocean waves, Little Toot notices an ocean liner in big trouble.  Why, he can prove his usefulness by making smoke signals to call for the big tugboats to help!  Help does come, but all those big tugboats are unable to force their way out to the stormy seas.  Little Toot is the only one who can save the day.  Sure, he is scared.  But he braves the wind and waves and rushes out to attempt to save that giant ocean liner.  And guess what?  He did it!

That silly little cute tugboat rose to the occasion and became a hero!  

It is so easy, isn’t it, to stay where the waters are calm.  It can be tempting to sit back and let others take charge.  Like Little Toot, it is only when we force ourselves to brave the stormy seas that we gain the confidence to take charge and save the day!