Noah's seal

Noah, a Black child wearing a red bucket hat, patiently waits on the beach "at the edge of the wild wide sea," wishing that his Nana's boat was sailing-ready. But Nana, a Black adult in a sea star--print tunic, is still working on fixing it. Noah wants desperately to see a seal, but since "Nana says they don't like to come ashore here," she encourages him to play, instead. When Noah digs aimlessly, dreaming, he soon discovers that the sand he's thrown behind him looks just like a seal. He decorates it with care ("shells for the seal's speckled back, spiky dune grass for whiskers") before a sudden storm washes the seal away--revealing another surprise. From the third-person perspective, Marlow (You Make Me Smile) gently establishes Noah's hopes. Place, action, and characters are closely observed in both the sensitive text and dynamic, dot-eyed human portrayals as soft washes of watercolor, paired with physical and digital collage, ground the natural setting. Noah's wish is one that readers will share; watching as it is fulfilled in this sweet intergenerational narrative is a small, satisfying pleasure. Ages 3--7. (June)

A day at the beach with Nana becomes an adventure when seals are involved. Noah has spent several days at the seaside with his grandmother. While Nana works on fixing up their boat, Noah waits eagerly for the day when they can go out for a sail and see the seals. On this day, Noah is playing in the sand and notices that the pile of sand he has made looks an awful lot like a seal. After adding stones and seaweed to make spots and a face, he is quite pleased with his new friend. But a storm comes, and he and Nana must hide in the boat until it passes. Noah is saddened to find his friend gone when the storm passes. The boat is fixed, but it's time to go home. Unless…what's that out in the water? A friend beckoning them to sail today? With well-paced energy and a satisfying final spread, this sweet tale featuring a brown-skinned boy and his loving adult, a woman of color, turns a day at the beach into a magical experience. The fact that Noah and Nana have the beach all to themselves makes his imaginative play and intimacy with the natural world all the more potent. The textures and colors of the illustrations make each spread a delight to the eyes. Powerful in its sweet, childlike simplicity. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.