Author Sarah Sherman Author Sarah Sherman McGrail, left, and illustrator James Taliana collaborated closely with Eliot Winslow, seated, to ensure accuracy in portraying both tugboats and local landmarks.

Up to this point, Southport author Sarah Sherman McGrail’s repertoire has focused on the island’s World War II history. She published "Southport: The War Years" in 1996 and "Heroes Among Us" three years later.

Her latest endeavor, due to premiere at the Southport Memorial Library on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 10 a.m., has the author exploring the opposite end of the literary spectrum.

"I was for looking for something different," she said.

That’s exactly what she’s delivered in "The Littlest Tugboat," a children’s book about a tugboat named Tommy who defies his mother’s caution and heads out to sea in rough weather.

The idea for the book came to McGrail while she was gardening this summer and Minnie Winnie, the smallest of Marge and Eliot Winslow’s tugs, came passing through The Gut.

"The idea kind of clicked," she said. "Tugboats just have an appeal to kids. They’re determined, like a lot of strong-willed children. The littlest ones always seem to get left behind, but they have so much to offer."

The concept for the book fit in nicely with the independent study McGrail needed to complete as part of her English major at the University of Maine at Augusta.

"It’s kind of like a two-for-one special," she said.

The book is illustrated by James "Jim" Taliana, who at the time of reading the manuscript was giving McGrail’s seven-year-old son Sherman art lessons.

And despite it being a children’s book, work on "The Littlest Tugboat" did include some of the research-qualities that McGrail had employed in her earlier historical work.

With the Winslows serving as her technical advisors, McGrail and Taliana sought to ensure that every detail, particularly local landmarks and geography, were portrayed accurately.

"We went for technical correctness," she said. "We wanted it to be right. What I enjoy most is the research part of it and that works in both the history and children’s books."

But surely her target audience wouldn’t mind if the author employed some liberal "license" in her work?

"Living in a small town, I didn’t want to hear every time I was in aisle seven at [Hannaford] that, `Oh, I really liked your book but I think the Ink Bottle was on the wrong side,’" McGrail laughed. "When you’re dealing with something like that it’s got to be right."

There are indeed plenty of local touches spread throughout the book’s 36 pages. Readers will recognize the Southport Bridge, including its brotherly duo of keepers, Dwight and Duane Lewis. Eliot Winslow himself makes an appearance, as does Bath Iron Works.

With one children’s book behind her, McGrail plans on sticking with that genre, at least for now. She’s toyed with the idea of writing another one based on the annual Southport Firemen’s Auction.

Chances are, there’ll be a little bit of history sprinkled in somewhere. Editor’s note: To pre-order copies of "The Littlest Tugboat" contact Cozy Harbor Press at P.O. Box 385, Southport Island, ME 04576, or call Sherman at 633-7161. More book signings to be announced.