Seabird: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

I loved this book as a child. I bought 9 copies to give to my kids. They loved it too. A problem is that the colors in the paperback version are not as brilliant as the original hardcopy of 50 years ago.

Any of Holling C. Holling books are worthy of a space on your personal library shelf. "Seabird" is a wonderful story celebrating the art of sailing as passed down generation by generation while exploring topics of geography, sea life, geology, and history. It engages the mind and investigates new interests. The illustrations are impressive and intriguing.

I haven't forgotten it in the 20 years since I last read it. I'm ordering it right now to read it with my sons. This is a lyrical book that can survive a post-politically-correct viewing without losing any of its character.

From its inception in the 1940's, Seabird has offered children of all ages a rich blend of New World nautical history, from tall-masted ships to steamships, all woven into an adventure of global exploration by sea. Highly recommended.To this day Seabird evokes sights and sounds of whaling days and early coal-powered ships. I smell the greased hemp lines and the rendered blubber, the sulphurous fumes of steamers, kelp, and the sea itself.The early youth, perhaps reading alone or read to, becomes a lean young sailor, develops character, and passes into old age through four generations -- a most remarkable transition when one knows so little of aging or history. Holling was a master author, first of Paddle to the Sea, later of more land-based novels, each rich in full-page color images.