You might have noticed a gaping hole in the steampunk world: There are no steampunk-themed books for children.

It’s a sad fact that most kids aren’t excited by the prospect of dressing in brown and listening to respectful discussions of bustle-construction and Nicholas Tesla. And we need to change that, hopefully by indoctrinating them early. Sure, there’s Lyra and the alethiometer in The Golden Compass, and Hugo recently drew some new fans into the theater, but what about the little coglets who crave books with lots of pretty pictures?

Luckily, an endearing new automaton is here to introduce the coglings to the magic and wonder of steampunk. His name is St. John Murphy Alexander, and he’s the star of Her Majesty’s Explorer, a new children’s book written by Atlanta author and steampunk enthusiast Emilie P. Bush and illustrated by William Kevin Petty. I haven’t actually beheld a physical specimen, but I was able to review a copy of the e-book, and it did not disappoint.

St. John’s adventure has a quirky rhyme scheme that drew in both of my steamlets and even taught them some unusual new vocabulary words that fit perfectly with the text. The illustrations are charming, with an energy and color palette that stays true to the steampunk aesthetic. The hero is friendly, non-threatening, tidy, tenacious, and sort of like a gentle version of C3P0. There’s a teddy bear in an eye patch and a bright blue dirigible. And the story even conveys a subtle message about taking care of your kit, which my Kindergarten-age daughter interpreted as, “So if I remember to clean out my ears, I won’t die and can also have adventures.”

I have to admit, however, that my favorite part of the book is the addendum at the end of a song about a plucky fellow called Steamduck. He never gives up, he runs on soda pop, and he's an explorer in his own right. My kids are still singing "Three Cheers for Steamduck!" and begging me for a clockwork rubber duck. 

If you dig steampunk and want to see some future airship captains smile, you can’t go wrong with Her Majesty’s Explorer.  

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Delilah S. Dawson is the author of Wicked as They Come, a steampunk paranormal romance and the first in a series from Pocket/Simon & Schuster. She’s very fond of books, boots, cake, and corsets, and you can learn altogether too much about her on Twitter or her website, delilahsdawson.com.