The Sea of Bath

September 27, 2010
Waking from his nap, the venerable captain of the S.S. Rubb a Dubb muses on "this strange sea and its travelers." Why does the tide act so bizarrely? What is this thing called "soap" that seems to want an aquatic version of a drag race? And what are a blue bear and windup deep-sea diver doing riding the waves? As readers will quickly guess, the joke is on the captain—he's actually the master and commander of a toy tugboat in a bathtub that's populated with many, many toys, including ducks that "squeak instead of quack." First-time author Logan, who's worked as a story artist on Madagascar and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, offers more of an extended shaggy dog joke than a real story—adults of a certain age may even note a Twilight Zone quality to the premise. But his target audience should find the cheeky, slightly retro illustrations, which recall the work of Dan Yaccarino and Bob Staake, almost as good as a short animated feature. Ages 1–5.