Customer Reviews

Sammy the Seal (An I Can Read Book)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One day, Sammy the seal decides that he wants to go outside of the zoo to see what life is like in the outside world. During his adventures he walks along a busy street, swims in a man's bathtub, and goes to school. I think it is really cute how people don't even notice there is a seal walking down the street, or if they do they don't act like it is any thing out of the ordinary.

The pictures in the original 1959 version are very cute, full of expression and well colored. In the original the colors are shaded in, and almost look as if they were colored in by some very artistic kid with crayons.

The story flows wonderfully, even if some parts don't quite make sense. It is a very cute, if rather nonsensical, story.

Loggie-log-log-log

I had this book as a child and absolutely loved it. I was in a used bookstore the other day and found an original copy just like the one I had as a child! Now, as my husband and I start a family, I will have one wonderful classic to add to my child's collection.

I had Sammy the Seal when I was a child. I still have my copy, and I read it to my 2 1/2 year old son. He really enjoys it! He also enjoys Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff. I still have my copy of that too!!

I couldn't believe I still had the original Sammy The Seal book I had when I was a child! (This just proves how much I cherished it!) I am so delighted that I can pass it on to my 6 year old son as he learns to read. I highly recommend this book and others by Syd Hoff.

Sammy the Seal lives in a zoo in the city. One day, as Mr Johnson was feeding the seal, he asked Sammy waht was the matter; as Sammy was looking very sad indeed. He told Mr Johnson that he wanted to get out of the zoo, and have a look around the city. He looked at everything, but soon it was too hot for him, and he ended up taking a swim in a man's bath tub. He then found a liune of children waiting to go to school. Sammy learned to read and write, and he was very good at vollyball. After school was out, Sammy went home to the zoo. He was glad to be home--it was supper time.

This was the first book my mother read to me, i memorized it because i asked her to read it to me every night. That's how i learned to read by the time I was 3.5 years old or so, which got me ahead in classes. Now, ending my junior year in high school, i pop out the book when i get stressed out and read it to myself...even though i know the words without opening the book. Buy it! you'll love it!

What I like most about this book, which was written in 1959 and has now been turned into an easy reader, is the good feeling it generates. Sammy is a seal who wants to leave the zoo and see the outside world, so the zookeeper lets him out and Sammy walks everywhere and talks to everyone, ending up in a grade school and learning how to read and write before he returns to the zoo. What feels good is the gentle way people and animals treat one another in this book. The humor is gentle, too, as when the teacher says that volleyball rules require seals to catch with their noses and boys and girls to catch with their hands.

Where I think this book fails to satisfy is in the story structure. There are no causal connections for any of the events after Sammy leaves the zoo. The absence of cause weakens the sequence and weakens anticipation. For example, there is no causal connection between Sammy jumping into a bathtub and looking into a restaurant window, or going from there to school. Still, the story does leave one with a good feeling, and children just learning to read may enjoy it.

I ordered this book for my daughter; and she likes reading about how Sammy the Seal spends an afternoon outside of the zoo in the big city.

I bought this book for my grandson. He is beginning to read. He really enjoyed this book!

My sons absolutely LOVE this book. Whenever it is time to read a story, Sammy Seal makes the heap and I always cave in and read it. For a little book, it's quite detailed with great artwork and a wonderful plot!