Captain's Castaway

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 28 SEPT 1998

Based on an incident that occurred in 19th-century coastal Maine, Perrow's homespun tale centers on a sea captain's dog that survives a shipwreck. After a panicked sailor pushes him away from a tipping lifeboat, the injured pooch bravely swims to shore. Sarah, a lighthouse keeper's daughter, finds him, nurses him to health, names him Seadog and "together they worked, they played--companions glad and true." Two years later the sea captain returns and tries to reclaim his pet. But faithful Seadog leaps off the captain's rowboat, swims back to Sarah and "gaze at her with trusting eyes." Sappy, cliche-riddled writing undermines the situation's inherent child appeal, as does the use of a chorus-like refrain, set off from the main text, which issues such silly ditties as "He was a good dog,/ a brave dog,/ a trying-to-save-himself dog,/ a sea dog" and "Sarah was a lonely girl,/ a roving girl,/ a looking-for-a-friend girl,/ a lighthouse girl." Harris's characters sometimes appear wooden and her perspective can be oddly skewed, but her primitive-style paintings offer a pleasing portrayal of Maine's picturesque coast. These images, along with the historical roots of Perrow's tale, may draw a regional audience for the book. Ages 5-8.