On Canada's west coast, a redheaded, pink-skinned child--the book's narrator--joins Dad and a friendly terrier for a trip hauling logs to a sawmill using a boom boat. Ritchie writes in a cadence that appreciates every detail: "The boom boat pushes the logs in place. Then the deckhand uses his pike pole to pull them together. He's making a log boom." A brief storm, a lost cedar, and an encounter with a "deadhead" that represents a possible collision provide moments of drama as the craft pulls the massive raft of lumber, but Dad knows his stuff, and eventually, it's land ho--as the narrator notes, "the smell of the sea is gone. Now I smell the sawmill." Digitally enhanced pencil and ink cartooning skillfully balances human moments with specific tasks and sweeping landscapes (including a wonderful bird's-eye view spread), inviting readers to savor people, process, and place. Back matter provides additional factual detail. Ages 3--6. (Mar.)

A child and father spend the day together on a tugboat, guiding a log boom to a Vancouver sawmill. After the boom ("a collection of floating logs") is assembled, the father and child set out, pulling the massive boom behind them. They steer wide around a tanker; encounter a swell that lifts the boom, causing the loss of a log; spot a deadhead (a partly submerged log); and hurry to reach the river before the tide turns, pulling "anything that isn't anchored or tied up...out to sea." The first-person narration is simple and specific, introducing young readers and listeners to terms of the trade (a helpful glossary is appended). The eye-catching large-format ink and pencil illustrations, colored in Photoshop, use a blue, green, and brown palette. It's an outing full of fun, but the child is truly helpful, too, and is duly appreciated by Dad: "Thanks, buddy!" The story ends with the narrator declaring, "Maybe I'll drive the tug one day." Front endpapers feature a large map of the rivers and inlets around Vancouver; back endpapers provide a diagram of the different elements of the boom. An appended "Dear Reader" letter from the author provides additional information and raises questions about climate change and sustainability. Dean Schneider May/June 2022 p.129(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.