Trim Helps Out (Adventures of Trim) by Hopkinson

One small kitten learns about the great big world as he sets sail with his fellow shipmates, animal and human, in this historical fiction intermediate reader.

Trim is eager to do a good job on his first day as ship’s cat—but what is his job? All around him, members of the crew are busy with their responsibilities—too busy to notice a small kitten looking for an opportunity to contribute. Jack the parrot directs Trim to the hold, to patrol for rats. But Jack neglects to tell Trim exactly what a rat is. Surely Princess Bea, the new friend he meets below deck, isn’t a rat. She doesn’t resemble the creepy, scary-looking creature that Jack warned Trim about and she’s happy to have an assistant to fetch her biscuits from the galley.