Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain

Opening this classic picture book, first published in 1936, you are at once transported into a gentler, more innocent world. Little Tim, perched in his house by the sea, yearns to become a sailor. He befriends the local boatman, shares his dream, and becomes a willing stowaway on a steamer anchored out in the bay. Adopted by the jolly but demanding crew, Tim thrives on the ocean waves until shipwreck closes in upon him. He and the captain, on deck until the last, are miraculously rescued and a joyous homecoming awaits them: ‘The lifeboat men were pleased, too, as they were presented by the Mayor with medals for bravery.’

There is no moral to the tale, simply a seadog’s yarn that affords Ardizzone opportunities to conjure up life at sea in all its flotsam and jetsam variety. The book alternates black-and-white and colour double-spreads, the latter chosen for moments of greatest drama: the lifeboat rescue scenes seem almost 3D in presentation. As cast in these pages, the smells, sounds, sights and taste of the salty sea will doubtless draw in yet another generation of Ardizzone fans, alongside companion reissues in the Little Tim series, Tim and Lucy Go to Sea and Tim to the Rescue.