MR. YOWDER AND THE STEAMBOAT

Mr. Yowder, of Lion Roar Capsule fame, comes east this time and winds up piloting a steamship through Battery Park and up Broadway. His Depression-era adventure begins innocently enough with a fishing trip, but one thing leads to another, and when Mr. Yowder's inadvertent cardsharping wins the licenses and ""official caps"" of a steamship captain and a harbor pilot, he decides on a shortcut for his new command. ""He could let the passengers off right at their hotels on the way and save them taxi fares."" Preposterous as it all is, we're willingly carried along, especially by Rounds' agreeably ragged line drawings and his equally ragged but imperturbable hero. A whimsical, well-spun yarn.