"Little Toot" written and illustrated by Hardie Gramatky, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1960s Weekly Reader Children's Book Club edition with last copyright 1939, no other dates, no isbn, no LOG number, no barcode.

Illustrated hard boards [a little wear and bumped bottom corners]; 7.1/4" x 8"; "Kim Edwards" is ink written on top of the title page; unpaginated, c. 90+ pages, fully illustrated, very good condition.

The story is about Little Toot, a small young tugboat in New York Harbor who does not want to tug. Instead, he would rather play, making figure eights in the harbor and thus being a nuisance to all the other tugboats. But when he ends up all alone on the open ocean as a storm is rolling in, it is up to him to save a grounded ocean liner.

"This is the book that kindled my love of reading and stoked the fires of my fascination with ships. In that respect, it is still an influence in my life today. For young readers, it is a good story in terms of entertainment and life lesson. The artwork helps as well. Great for kids!" [a private review]

Bernhard August "Hardie" Gramatky, Jr. (1907-1979) was an American painter, writer, animator, and illustrator. In a 2006 article in Watercolor Magazine, Andrew Wyeth named him as one of America's 20 greatest watercolorists. He wrote and illustrated several children's books, most notably "Little Toot".

In 1928, he enrolled in Chouinard Art Institute. Developing a deep interest in watercolor painting. By 1929, he had become a proficient watercolorist and was recognized as one of the true innovators in the development of "California Scene" watercolor painting. These skills helped him to get a job that year as a senior animator at the Walt Disney Studios, where he remained for the next six years.

In 1936, Gramatky moved to New York City. There, the Ferargil Gallery began exhibiting his watercolors. He was also among those whose work was exhibited in a major show of California artists mounted at the Art Institute of Chicago that year. Ultimately, his work would be exhibited at numerous museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Examples of his work are part of the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, and Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington, among others.

By the 1940s, he began writing and illustrating a series of children's books, including Hercules, Loopy, Creepers Jeep and Sparky. Gramatky's most successful book was his first, Little Toot, published in 1939. It became a perennial best seller, and was animated by Disney. He also wrote and illustrated several sequels to the original Little Toot story.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ------ $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-7 weeks) ----- $28.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-10 weeks) ----- $42.50