In the strangest of places

Along with providing me with a stable, loving home, a healthy marriage modeled before my eyes, experience with technology, and a sense of humor, one of the coolest things my parents did for me was introduce me to an author named Bill Peet. Mr. Peet worked for Disney, and was the major creative force behind the characters and humor in 101 Dalmations and Sword in the Stone. He also wrote ad illustrated a great number of picture books, and his distinctive and beautiful colored-pencil illustrations always made the books something special. Of his work, one of my favorites is Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent. It's been described as an anti-peer pressure book by a few people, and while there's a scene of that at the beginning of the book, the real story is what I feel to be one of the greatest stories of courage and self-sacrifice ever to be disguised as a childrens' book. Spoiler warning: I am going to divulge the plot of a childrens' picture book in the next few sentences. Feel free to stop reading if this bugs you. The book begins with a very bored sea serpent swimming around, restless and wanting something to do. Within moments, a local sharp puts him up to the idea of attacking a sailing vessel and eating everyone onboard, calling him a coward when he shows reluctance. In a fit of pique, the Cyrus swims off to look for a target and spots a Mayflower-like colony ship getting ready to sail for the new world. When an old man curses the ship as it's leaving, Cyrus takes offense and instead of attacking the ship, he becomes its guardian, shepherding the ship and its passengers safely through the worst the ocean can throw at them, occasioannly at some personal cost. I'd recommend any of Bill Peet's books to anyone, child or adult, in a heartbeat, but I have a special place in my heart for ol' Cyrus. Sometimes true stories of heroism can be found in the strangest of places.