''Seabird'' is a 1948 book for children and young people, written and illustrated by Holling Clancy Holling.

Plot

Ezra, the ship's boy on an 1850s whaling ship, uses his off duty time and walrus tusks traded from an Eskimo to carve an ivory gull, which later serves as the family mascot. The book follows the history of the gull over the next 80 years as it passes from one of Ezra's descendants to another, while simultaneously tracing the history of commercial transportation, from Clipper ships to jet airplanes.

Description

Each odd numbered page has a picture of an aspect of life at sea. The facing even numbered pages carry the text with wide margins filled with labeled drawings of details of history or natural history, such as how oil was taken from a whale that was too big to bring on board, and how the shape of a ship's bow depends on its intended use.

Reception

First published in 1948, ''Seabird'' was a

Newbery Honor The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

recipient in 1949.

References

1948 American novels 1948 children's books American children's novels American picture books Children's historical novels Newbery Honor–winning works Children's books about birds Children's novels about animals Children's books set on ships Children's books set in the 1850s {{1940s-child-hist-novel-stub