The Seal Pup

James Otis Thach
Bowrider Press (2010)
ISBN 9780982566305
Reviewed by Marten Weldon (age 7) for Reader Views (5/11)

 

“The Seal Pup” by James Otis Thach is a rhyming story about a seal pup who was scared of the water.  His whole herd leaves but he won’t get in the water.  Everybody left except for him and finally his mom grabbed him by the scruff and forced him into the water.  They got chased by a shark.  His mom soon caught sight of a miniature island and put the seal pup there.  His mother disappeared and the pup was left alone and scared.

Soon a wave came and he got put in the water.  He ended up on an ice floe heading north.  When he got on the island he was taking a nap.  Some penguins came and looked at him and when he woke up they became his friends.  The seal still didn’t really know how to swim but the penguins encouraged him and taught him to swim.  The seal and the penguins meet some dangers but they managed to survive.  Eventually he had to leave the penguins. 

When he was out alone, he got caught in a fish net but eventually met a helpful walrus.  The helpful walrus’ brother got really mad but the helpful walrus protected him and taught him how to survive in the wild.  Eventually he had to leave the walrus.

At the end, the seal pup finds a spotted seal pup and they become friends.  There are some exciting surprises at the end.

The book is a big, hardcover book.  My mom keeps saying that it is a beautiful book.  The pictures take up both sides of the page and the writing is on the pictures (in the sky or in the water).  The seal is really cute.  He is very, very brave and if you have a dog, then you will soon find out that he barks like a dog.  For a bit of the book you see his mom but other than that you don’t see his mom again until a surprise at the very end.

If you think you might like this book, you could go check out the author’s website first.  I liked the website.  There was a video of the author reading part of the story, and also a music video with pictures.  The author says that this book is based on a true story. 

I would recommend “The Seal Pup” to my friends and to people who like seals.  The book has 128 pages, so it is pretty long.

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