Monday, March 28, 2011

Scuffy Sniffed his Blue Smokestack

I still read kid's books. There, I said it. Kid's books are good for a lot of reasons. They're fun, easy to read, and might come in handy when watching your brother's bratty kid. And they have pictures. Being a kid at heart, I still peruse the children's book section of St. Vincent's. Now and then, I find gold. In this case, literally.

Little Golden Book: Scuffy the Tugboat


Remember Little Golden Books? Some of them are old as hell -- Scuffy here is originally from 1946, reprinted in 1974. Golden books all had that shiny gold binding and are technically hardcover, since the front and back are made of cardboard. Golden Books have a huge line up of that includes Disney, Muppets, and Sesame Street, as well as fairy tales and religion, but I repeat myself. *Ahem.*

Scuffy caught my eye because he's so damned adorable. He's a little red tug boat, and as far as anthropomorphism goes, it rarely gets cuter than that. Just listen to the first page: "Scuffy was sad. Scuffy was cross. Scuffy sniffed his blue smokestack. 'A toy store is no place for a red-painted tugboat,' said Scuffy, and he sniffed his blue smokestack again. 'I was meant for bigger things.'" Hooks you right away, doesn't it? We're pulling for you, Scuffy the Tuboat!


The back cover was the same for most Little Golden Books, and if you take a closer look you'll see that Scuffy is chillin' in the back of Bert's train, which, even if you've never heard of Scuffy, you know he rolls with some happenin' dudes. My personal favorite image is the cat, his eyes triumphant after catching the pink ball. Aww...


The inside cover was the same for most Little Golden Books as well. Thankfully, nobody tagged Scuffy.

Overall, I'm happy with this purchase, except for the fact that it smells like basement. Hopefully leaving it open for an extended amount of time will allow my manly scent to take the place of the musty one.

Cost of Scuffy the Tugboat: $.34

5 comments:

  1. I totally remember these books! When I was a kid I loved them so much. And I can only imagine the basement smell, hope that comes out. :)

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  2. Ah, I was a Golden Books kid for sure. My favorite was The Monster at the End of this Book by Grover. Preschool meta-fiction.

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  3. Wow, Jen! I forgot about that one! I loved that one too.

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  4. nice find. those books were a lot of fun when I was younger. I didn't remember these until the image of the unmistakable back cover. Now I must go search my parents storage shed!

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  5. I had tons of these books. I mean a bookshelf full! your entries always bring me back to my childhood! Now if you could just pick up a Barbie, we could really talk about my childhood. hahah just kiddin'

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