Scuppers the Dog wants to be a sailor. He was born at sea and all he wants to do is go to sea. When Scuppers finally gets a chance to go to sea he is shipwrecked. But he doesn't let that bother him. He fixes his boat and goes back out to sea, this time ending up at a foreign seaport. Scuppers is now truly a Sailor Dog.

Card catalog description

A dog that has always wanted to go to sea realizes his dream.

This 1953 story begins with Ms. Wise's typically lyrical prose: "Born at sea in the teeth of a gale, the sailor was a dog. Scuppers was his name." However, much of the book's language is not quite as enchanting, nor as warmly and wisely love-soaked as Ms. Brown's "Runaway Bunny." Perhaps it's just that this is aimed at a slightly older reader/listener than 'Bunny.'

The revelation here (in this Golden Book edition) is the very richly-hued palette of Garth Williams, who, for example, uses orange, purple, and varied shades of green with originality and flair. Some of his pictures recall (and may have inspired?) Richard Scarrey's busily occupied town creatures. The two-page illustration of Scuppers asleep in his cabin may very well lull your little one to sleep, and invite adult fantasies of building a cozy houseboat. Recommended!