Selkie by Gillian McClure

Delightful
Reviewed by Gerry(TheMole)

"Delightful" I said and was asked "what more is there to say?". Well a whole lot if we are going to be properly fair. We bought many books for our two daughters when they were younger and I am pleased we didn't come across this at the time! Why? Well it's easy - If this had been in the shop we would have spent even more time trying to decide which book to take and it was bad enough without even more excellent choice!

Gillian McClure did the illustrations in the book as well as the words and to say that the pictures are excellent could be construed as saying the words are less than excellent and vice versa. The truth is there is an excellent balance between both.

Peter is living with his granny who tells him about selkies - seals that can change to human beings. Peter rescues a selkie from a fisherman's net and this leads him to a new friendship and an adventure.

The pictures are frequent and are beautiful and sweetly drawn and placed close to the text to which they apply. This makes it an excellent read and talk about book that involves both reader and child. The text is simple enough to be followed by the younger child, although this is not a first reading book. Personally I believe that teaching reading is the role of the school and should be supported by the parents and so I would not look for a first reader in a book like this.

A delightful book, beautifully drawn, well scripted and well put together as a parent-child reading experience.

TheMole's review - 5 stars

Publisher - Plaister Press

Genre - Children's 2 and upwards (They will love it even as they grow older)