Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean.

Bill the tugboat and Mabel the barge are friends happily working together on the Hudson River, and one day when a kitten falls into the water, Bill and Mabel prove that anyone can be a hero.

"Boats of all shapes and sizes travel on the river, through the seasons, toward the sea. Who will you meet on the river?"--

In rhyming text the reader is introduced to all the different kinds of boats floating on rivers, lakes, oceans, and ponds.

Illustrations and rhyming text introduce an increasing, then decreasing, cast of characters sharing a boat in a moat with a pig in an enormous wig.

"When the ships of the harbor aren't feeling well, the hospital ship Hope comes to the rescue"--

"Little Ferry yearns to be more like the other boats in the harbor who are faster or stronger, but her uniqueness proves to be her strength when an emergency erupts"--

Following on the successful heels of Samantha Vamos's Alphabet Trucks and anticipating even more success from Alphabet Trains, readers are invited to join the journey through each letter of the alphabet. With colorful, kid-friendly art, this third entry into the series captures the uniqueness of twenty-six different kinds of boats and involves each letter of the alphabet in a supporting role.

Young Mai and her mother embark on a long, perilous journey from Vietnam to America to find Papa, who left ahead of them to start a better life for their family.

Tough Tug is a brand-new boat. He likes to swirl and twirl and run and race. He wants everyone to see what he can do. But on his first tow job to Alaska, he finds out what being a tug really means and learns an important lesson in the rough seas. Based on a true incident in which an Alaskan tug cut loose its own barge to rush to the rescue of the foundering tug of another tugboat company.