The Seal Mother

by Mordicai Gerstein

Book Overview

A seal sheds her skin and becomes a beautiful woman, but even after marrying and bearing a son she longs to return to her seal family in the sea.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803707436
• ISBN13: 9780803707436
• Release Date: March 1990
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.5" x 10.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Myterious fathoms below

As I write this review, the American Library Association has set up a webpage for librarians who would like to vote on those out-of-print children's books that they feel should be republished ASAP. I've a long Listmania of such books for older children, but I've never sat down and considered the best unappreciated picture books out there for younger kiddies. It was just good timing (and my new job in the best children's library in New York City) that led me to discover Mordicai Gerstein's 1986 masterpiece, "The Seal Mother". Mr. Gerstein is perhaps best known today for his Caldecott Award winning book, "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers", chronicling Philip Petit's famous tightrope act between the World Trade Towers. Long before his Petit work, Gerstein worked on everything from the adorable (and also mighty difficult to find) "Arnold of the Ducks" and Elizabeth Levy's fascinatingly named "Something Queer" series. I had only ever really seen Gerstein's work on his newer books, so it came as a complete surprise to me when I stumbled across what I can proclaim with absolute certainty to be the single loveliest selkie picture book ever to come into my hands. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be recommending the republication of THIS little beauty to ALA immediately. A man is fishing on Midsummer's Eve one evening when he comes across a startling sight. A white seal propels itself out of the water and onto a rock whereupon it sheds its skin and reveals itself to be a beautiful and fully clothed woman. The fisherman is immediately "in love" (oh so?) and captures the seal's skin. The woman is furious at the theft but the man swears that he will return the skin to her in seven years time if she will consent to be his wife. She agrees and they wed and have a son. At the end of seven years the woman demands her skin back but her husband refuses to honor his oath, a fact that the boy overhears. Then, led by the bark of a seal in the water, the child finds his mother's sealskin in a cave by the sea. Knowing full well that giving it to her will mean that she has to leave him, he realizes that that isn't the point as, "it's hers and she needs it". He gives the skin to his mother who immediately transforms and takes her son on a trip below the ocean to the magic land where all the selkies live. The boy later tells his father, who regrets his own greed. There is a happy ending, though. Each Midsummer's Eve the now grown boy, his wife and kids, and his father all go out to a rocky island and dance in the evening with the seals they find there. "And if the old man should say to you, as he pushes his boat into the surf, `Would you care to join us?' take my advice, say, `Yes!'". I've made it my very odd duty to read as many selkie children's books out there as I can. The task is not an easy one. For one thing, lots of the little buggers (like this one) are out of print. I've read "A Stranger Came Ashore", by Mollie Hunter, "The Island

Enchanting tale that comes to life!

The Seal Mother is a beautiful tale that works on two levels. First and foremost, it is an enchanting story that captivates childrens' imaginations. Second, it reminds us all that when we are called back to the sea, it is where our soul needs to be.

A beautifully illustrated version of a celtic folk tale

A young boy discovers that his mother is in fact a magical seal, trapped in human form by his father, who cannot keep his promis to set her free. This book was written and illustrated by my father, and is one of my favorites. Wonderful qualities of light are used in each picture.