The story is about Stanley who loves his home by the ocean. He dives and catches his own fish; he has many friends; he loves the sun, salt air, beach, and the ocean. The gulls though, mostly lived off the “left behinds” that beach goers dropped.
And one time, Stanley’s cousin swooped down and stole a hot dog, hot off some people’s grill. Ah, this is where I honed in. Ask anyone who has lived near the ocean and they will have a similar seagull story to relate. I have my own story of a gull swooping down to steal a sandwich right out of my hand, when I was a child. This was at a state park in Rye, NH. I was appalled. As a child, the shock left me with a derogatory opinion of sea gulls. I always thought of them as ocean vultures.
But I’ve grown up now. I realize that birds are birds. They don’t have the mental abilities that human beings have. In fact, it is our job, as humans to take care of our world. The environment is another moral issue. We need to keep our oceans clean. We need to take care of our trash. And of course we have to take care of the animals and birds that inhabit our world. The care of our world is our responsibility.
When Stanley got trapped in a garbage truck, my childhood fear of getting lost made my heart drop to my stomach. Do we all feel that way? Imagine what Stanley felt. I think all children would love to tell their feelings and worries, about getting lost.
But Stanley Seagull has a happy ending, so children will leave this story happy. I was happy. I know you’ll be happy, too, after reading this book. They’re so much to it for everyone, on so many levels. It’s a keeper.
4 comments:
Faith, thanks for your kind words of support for our friend, Stanley.
I can remember being a small child at a local park where a group of bumblebees grabbed whole slices of cold cuts from our table and flew away with them. You're right, animal encounters like these really make an impact on you when they happen at a young age!
Today you can see signs on eateries that have tables outside, "We are not responsible for what the sea gulls do." That would include stealing, as well as the performance of natural bodily functions.
Thanks so much for the excellent review. The incident with the hot dog actually happened to us.
How about the signs that restaurants put up for their outside customers, "We are not responsible for the seagulls' behavior."?
And "Eat at your own risk."
"Remember the movie, The Birds."
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