See What a Seal Can Do by Chris Butterworth, illustrated by Kate Nelms

This nonfiction picture book follows a gray seal through its day.  The seal starts off on shore where it is flumping along the sand, seeming slow and sleepy.  Then it enters the water and what seemed awkward on land makes it able to swim with incredible grace.  As the seal swims, readers learn about their different anatomy, including their ears, whiskers, fins and blubber.  At the bottom of the ocean, the seal eats fish and then eats more on its way up to the air again.  Returning to the beach, the seal is ready for another nap. 

Butterworth truly celebrates this animal in her book.  She writes with a mix of prose and poetry, making sure that readers understand how fascinating seals are.  Throughout, she uses metaphors to make sure that children relate to the animal.  Blubber is compared to a warm blanket.  The seaweed at the bottom is a forest.  The seal swims like a rocket in the water. 

There are many science picture books that use the format of larger text for the basic story and then smaller text for more details.  Perhaps best about this book is that Butterworth uses both sections of the book to share scientific information, too often the science is left mostly to the smaller text and younger readers miss out on the fascinating facts.

The artwork by Nelms is simply exquisite.  Just like the seal, the book really comes alive in its underwater scenes. Nelms manages to offer lots of small details to look at, but also to capture the wavering light and softness of water.  There are illustrations throughout that have a beautiful depth to them, inviting us to hidden places under the water.

A beauty of a science book, this celebration of seals gets my enthusiastic seal of approval.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.