Picture Book: Leopard & Silkie: One
Boy’s Quest to Save the Seal Pups
Author:
Brenda Patterson
Photographer: Robin
Lindsay
Summary:
At the beginning of this book, Leopard is born on the shore of Puget Sound.
Miles, a young boy, has been trained to protect this seal pup and others by
educating their biggest threat, humans. This is especially needed when a seal
pup sleeps alone on the shore for as long as 8 hours. Human curiosity and the
dogs they might bring with them are a particular threat. Miles and his family
build a floating platform to allow the pups to nap in safety. The pups adapt
quickly and many use the platform. Later in the story, Leopard's mother doesn’t
return so that he will learn to fish on his own. He grows lean, but thanks to
the arrival of an older female seal, Silkie, Leopard improves his fishing and
gets fat again.
Hanna’s Comments: This picture book has 2 parallel stories, Miles’ intervention
and the seal pups’ story, as well as beautiful, instructive photographs. Other
children who have been trained to protect the seal pups are photographed as
well. I especially appreciated the photographs of the humans taken from what
might be Leopard’s perspective, depicting the threat that well-meaning humans might
have on such a vulnerable animal. Before reading this to your audience, be sure
to check out the extensive Author’s Note
in the back. There is also a bibliography.
Publisher & Date of Publication: Henry Holt & Co., 2012
Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up
# of Pages:
32
Available in Spanish? Not at present
Formats other than Book: Tablet, There is a 23 minute long video on
Youtube.com of the author doing a presentation at a library giving more details
of this story.
PBT Category:
Nonfiction, Post 2K
PBT Topics this Book Connects with:
Scripture Connections: God created the great sea creatures (Genesis 1:21);
who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth? (Job 35:11); the fate of
humans and the fate of animals is the same, as one dies so dies the other (Ecclesiastes
3:18-19)
Idea(s) for Application: Use this book in a homeschool or private school
setting where you can freely talk about God’s creation of all species and our
role as caretakers, in partnership with God.
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