THE LITTLE DINGHY

Way down in Maine lives Captain Praffet and his shipshape craft, Big Prue. In Big Prue he delivers the main and takes the summer people back and forth to the little island on which he lives and behind him, attached to the big boat, rides a little dinghy -- for emergencies. When the dinghy is lost in a storm Paul, a small boy, finds her and devotes his days to undoing the damage the storm has done to the small craft. Goaded by conscience, Paul finally returns the boat to Captain Praffet, who is so impressed with the work Paul has done that he hires him as an assistant and gives him the dinghy as a present. Esphyr Slobodkina's colored illustrations manifest an original grasp of space, and her large planes of color blend admirably with the nautical mood of the text.