4.5 Stars

Tulip, the cutesy green tugboat, knows she is special even if the other tugboats don’t think so. But when a big-big-BIG boat gets stuck, it’s Tulip who rises to the occasion and proves her worth. 

Well, after Rosh reviewed this book, I knew I had to read it. Luckily, the very next day, I got an email notification from BookSirens about the ARC being available for reading. 

I googled tugboats already, so knew what they were and how they worked (a little bit). Tulip is one of the cutest tugboats I have seen (another is the one with a face and a cap I found on the internet). 

This is a really short story but would be a super fun piece to read aloud with younglings. The repetition will make kids laugh and ensure they remember the story (with the message). Coz, obviously, the message is just as important here – don’t let others’ opinions affect you when you know you are good, and being different doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. 

The cover is a great example of the illustrations. The text is presented in the rope box and the corresponding scenes are presented through a ship’s window. This leaves a lot of white (green) space around to prevent distractions. I wouldn’t have minded if the font size was a bit bigger but no worries. The watercolor illustrations are super cute, especially the big-big-BIG boat! Tulip too, of course. She looks like a tugboat plant or a plant tugboat. 

To summarize, Tulip the Tugboat is a teeny book with an important message and beautiful illustrations. I’m sure kids will enjoy reading this more than once. 

Thank you, BookSirens and the author, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.