Book review: 'Captain Little and the Great Toy Store Rescue'

Originally published on The JOLT News on November 19, 2025

Our community has known and cherished both the Captain Little toy store and Compass Rose for many years, and we owe an abundant thank you to Paul David Shepherd for owning both stores and just making our downtown even more lovely.

As if these efforts were not enough, Shepherd has written a new book that will immortalize the loveliness of our area for years to come.

“Captain Little and the Great Toy Store Rescue” was created with a real artist’s heart, attention to detail and sincerity. Full of whimsy, this book is highly imaginative and really taps into a childlike wonder and encourages the reader to listen to their own day dreams.

This book also allows us to get to know many characters throughout our town, including the mouse that has been behind all the magic, Captain Little herself.

What I loved about this book

I have to say, I love the fact that Captain Little is a girl. We need more stories in this world where heroines are not secondary to heroes, and where heroines can lead efforts toward positivity and invoke creativity without the help of a man.

Knowing this heroine was created by a man is even more encouraging because it shows that sexism could be dying. All gender theories really do begin in our youth, and I am so grateful to Shepherd for creating a book that can promote positive social dynamics from the start.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and entirely charming. Local artist Robyn Chance perfectly captured the fantastic nature of this book and drew the characters in such a way that is truly heart warming.

This little chapter book is educational, uplifts local treasures, including the Olympia Farmers Market and Salish Seas, and inspires teamwork and friendship amongst fellow creatures.

Whether it be a friendship between a mouse and a crow, a man, mouse, a robot or other mice, this book shows that we can find a friend in everyone we meet, and that a toy store is a place for us all.

Speaking of the robot, this book taught me the toy store’s robot that we all know and love does in fact speak 162 languages. I dare you to test this out the next time you are in the store, but I warn you the robot may not always respond. I imagine the robot gets lost in its own daydreams and memories of the "Great Toy Store Rescue."

One of the most heartwarming aspects of this book was how it pays tribute to and introduces us to the staff who have lovingly invested alongside Shepherd in the store and its many customers for years.

We get to meet Michael and his daughter Tilly, Amy, and all the other loving characters we get to actually know in our real community through the toy store.

Reflections

This book is a love letter to us all, and a reminder that each one of us matters and makes this world a brighter place. I think that is easy to forget. In a world filled with economic strife and hardship, sometimes we give up or close down on our dreams.

Captain Little and her crew remind us that our dreams are worth investing in, that we must never give up, and that each of us are interesting and worthy of being known and loved.

I encourage you to keep community staples like Captain Little alive and well. Get your holiday gifts there. Go there when you need your spirits lifted. Check out the slime bar just because. Most of all, go to Captain Little toy store to keep your childlike wonder alive.

The book can be purchased in person at the toy store.

https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/book-review-captain-little-and-the-great-toy-store-rescue,27101?