Seals Are Jerks! - Jared Chapman - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Jared Chapman

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: September 5, 2023

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A picture book explaining the food cycle in the wild to kids. Clever and funny, though obviously farfetched in its premise and a bit flawed in some aspects. Will work better with adult discussion. Recommended.

Plot Preview:

Little Lorelei loves seals and all facts about them, but her favourite fact is that seals and penguins are BFFs. She loves imagining the wonderful things the besties might do together. But while making a presentation on this topic in class, a new exchange student, who happens to be a penguin, declares, “Seals are jerks!” Lorelei obviously gets angry at her favourite animals being called jerks, but Penguin refuses to budge from his stance. He says that seals eat penguins, but Lorelei knows he is lying. To check the truth, they fly all the way to Antarctica so that Lorelei can prove Penguin wrong. But the confrontation doesn’t go as Lorelei envisioned.

I usually wouldn’t pick up a picture book with words like ‘jerks’ in the title, but the penguin-seal face-off on the cover had me intrigued. The book turned out to be an interesting experience.

Kids usually have favourite animals based on either powerfulness or cuteness. Seals are obviously cute lumps of blubber, so kids, just like Lorelei, find it tough to accept that they can be vicious predators. Given this tricky topic, and because I already knew that seals eat penguins, I was apprehensive about how the author would settle the plot without creating any long-term distress to little readers. But the explanation is excellently provided, and at least in this regard, the book is worth it. It’s a great way of making kids understand that the wild has rules of its own.

Of course, most of us too eat animals. Just because we don’t do the killing ourselves doesn’t make the process less heinous. But the book doesn’t raise this angle, and honestly, it is better not to bring up this while discussing the book with kids, because the explanation provided in the story makes sense only for wild animals, not human animals.

While I love the way the seal made Lorelei understand the ways of the wild, I wasn’t a big fan of a few inclusions. I get why the penguin called the seal a ‘jerk’, and it might be the least offensive bad word possible in a children’s book, but it is still a bad word, you know... Plus, one scene has Lorelei discarding her seal memorabilia on the Antarctic ground because she is angry at Seal – this needs a discussion on why dumping isn’t a great decision. Another scene has her offering a PB&J to seals – this merits a discussion on how processed food is not good for animals, especially wild animals. Basically, given how the book is fact-based even though presented in humorous form, I would have liked it to stick to the right information in all regards and not just for the food cycle.

The most disappointing part to me was Lorelei declaring “Print is dead. Let’s ask an expert.” when Penguin shows her an animal facts book saying seals eat penguins. Please don’t put this idea in children’s heads, especially when they are reading a book! As it is, books are competing with screens and now AI when it comes to disseminating information. Let kids understand that books are (relatively speaking) the most reliable source of factual information! There certainly was a better way of wording that line.

Of course, the story is farfetched in other regards too. One can't imagine a penguin being an international exchange student or a little girl taking a flight to such a far-away destination without adult supervision. But the boundaries of creative license can be relaxed for picture books when they aren’t harmful.

The text is suitable for the content. Written in simple language, the story contains several back-and-forth conversations that would be excellent during readaloud sessions. There are also plenty of emotions both in the words and in the sketches, which would be apt for discussions on feelings.

The illustrations are awesome, exactly as you can see on the cover. The characters are like cutouts pasted on real-life photos of Antarctica. There is a great deal of action in the sketches, which makes the characters even more fun. I especially love the expressive eyebrows of all the characters. Lorelei is extra special because she has a missing front tooth – so adorable! I also love how she stick her tongue out of her mouth while concentrating! These little details make so much difference to the overall impression.

Overall, this is a good attempt at making kids understand that animals do what they do to survive. This doesn’t make them jerks. Some children might wonder if we humans are jerks because we eat animals even if they aren’t an essential part of our food chain. Best think of an answer for this before reading the book with your little one. I have none to offer!

Recommended for classroom discussions on food cycles and readaloud sessions. But do take care of the negatives mentioned. Adult guidance needed.