The Boy Who Lived With the Seals

Rating:
Summary: The Chinook legends of the boy who lived with the seals
Review: "The Boy Who Lived With the Seals" is based on a Chinook legend of a boy who disappeared one day while playing by the river. When they find no trace of the boy the People think that he has been carried off by a wild animal, but his parents search for another three weeks before they too come to accept that there boy was gone. However, as the years went by they never forgot their son. Then one night a woman of another tribe tells an amazing story of an island where the seals dry their fur in the warm sun. With those seals there is a boy, and the mother and father know it must be their boy.

Gathering some of the young men of the tribe, they set off in their canoes for the island, and that night they capture the boy and bring him back across the river to his parents and to his people. However, the boy no longer talks, but grunts and barks like a seal. He only eats raw fish, seaweed, and clams, just like a seal. So the parents patiently teach him to walk again, and to learn to once again love the foods that he once loved. Meanwhile the boys begins to make canoes and paddles for his people, all carved and painted with designs of the sea and the creatures of the sea that he remembers from living with the seals.

This story is based on a very short story told by the Chinook people of the Northwest Coast, who have lived by the mouth of the Columbia River for generations. Retold by Rafe Martin with paintings by David Shannon, "The Boy Who Lived With the Seals" reflects the idea of the sacredness of all life. The People know that they cannot just take endlessly from nature without giving some gift in return, which allows for the renewal of life. Some readers may be reminded of the Celtic story of the Seal Maiden, which also talks about humans and seals living in harmony. What young readers will especially find interesting about this story is the ending, which might be considered unexpected but is also quite powerful.

This is the second collaboration between Martin and Shannon, whose first tale, "The Rough-Face Girl," was essentially the Algonquin Indian version of Cinderella. Martin does an excellent job of telling the story in a manner that befits its origins, capturing the gravity and the grace of the legend. Shannon's paintings have a softness to them that works wonderfully for a story in which water plays such a vital role. The ending of this story, while not what you would call a traditional happy ending, is certainly enchanting, which is what makes it so memorable.

Rating:
Summary: The Chinook legends of the boy who lived with the seals
Review: "The Boy Who Lived With the Seals" is based on a Chinook legend of a boy who disappeared one day while playing by the river. When they find no trace of the boy the People think that he has been carried off by a wild animal, but his parents search for another three weeks before they too come to accept that there boy was gone. However, as the years went by they never forgot their son. Then one night a woman of another tribe tells an amazing story of an island where the seals dry their fur in the warm sun. With those seals there is a boy, and the mother and father know it must be their boy.

Gathering some of the young men of the tribe, they set off in their canoes for the island, and that night they capture the boy and bring him back across the river to his parents and to his people. However, the boy no longer talks, but grunts and barks like a seal. He only eats raw fish, seaweed, and clams, just like a seal. So the parents patiently teach him to walk again, and to learn to once again love the foods that he once loved. Meanwhile the boys begins to make canoes and paddles for his people, all carved and painted with designs of the sea and the creatures of the sea that he remembers from living with the seals.

This story is based on a very short story told by the Chinook people of the Northwest Coast, who have lived by the mouth of the Columbia River for generations. Retold by Rafe Martin with paintings by David Shannon, "The Boy Who Lived With the Seals" reflects the idea of the sacredness of all life. The People know that they cannot just take endlessly from nature without giving some gift in return, which allows for the renewal of life. Some readers may be reminded of the Celtic story of the Seal Maiden, which also talks about humans and seals living in harmony. What young readers will especially find interesting about this story is the ending, which might be considered unexpected but is also quite powerful.

This is the second collaboration between Martin and Shannon, whose first tale, "The Rough-Face Girl," was essentially the Algonquin Indian version of Cinderella. Martin does an excellent job of telling the story in a manner that befits its origins, capturing the gravity and the grace of the legend. Shannon's paintings have a softness to them that works wonderfully for a story in which water plays such a vital role. The ending of this story, while not what you would call a traditional happy ending, is certainly enchanting, which is what makes it so memorable.