Customer Reviews

The Story of the Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her To Fly

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Kengah is a gull on a journey to lay an egg where, when hatched, the chick would grow and thrive safely. Zorba, a coal-black cat, is anticipating a month's vacation from his human friend.

But when Kengah's wings are weighed down by an oil slick, she aborts her travel plans and struggles to the nearest port to lay her final egg. Kengah is able to fly to the balcony of a nearby apartment building where she meets Zorba. As Kengah lays dying, Zorba promises three things; that he will not eat the egg, he will watch over the egg, and when it's time, he will teach the chick to fly. Zorba is a cat with a sense of honor and with three cat friends, struggles to learn about gulls so he will be able to keep his promise to the dying gull.

The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepulved is an extraordinary tale about the lengths a parent will go for a child. It is beautifully written with compassion and humor. It proves that when commitment, honor and love are involved, great differences can be overcome.

The black and white illustrations are amazing. This is a book for ages 8-12 and one that parents will want to read to and share with their children. This book and its message are so beautiful that it should have a permanent place in that special child's library. I love this book!

I read this book to my 7 year old twin girls, and the three of us loved it. The vocabulary, the humor, the characters were all wonderful. I have high hopes that the author will continue to write children's books.

Such a sweet book! Perfect for the 7-12 year-olds. The illustrations are lovely, the characters are funny and true. There is some sadness in it (thus the age range) but the ending is uplifting and glorious. This should be on every library shelf!

A 1001 CBYMRBYGU. A group of cats encounter a seagull who has run into an oil slick. The gull is gravely ill and begs the cats to promise to care for the last egg she has laid and to teach the baby gull to fly. The cats promise. It is more difficult to teach a bird to fly than the cats realized, but they try to remain true to their promise.

Titles intrigue me. Consider for example: The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught her to Fly. Immediately, the title prompts all kinds of questions: How can a cat teach a seagull to fly? I'd like to know, wouldn't you? Or when is the last time I have read a book about a seagull? Books abound about dogs and cats, to a lesser extent about mice and rats, but not so much about birds. Among those, when is the last time I have read a book that is not about a lost or stranded animal seeking its owner? The title alone made me read this book.

As for the book, sigh, it reads like a first novel. Some parts worked well; others not so well. The main flaws were the sentimental, sometimes preachy tone, along with an overly large cast of minor characters. There are skinny Secretario, the Colonel, smart Einstein, two more unnamed alley cats.... and these are just the cats. There's also a chimp, a gang of rats, and three humans. In a book of just over 100 pages, that's far too many characters to keep track of. Fortunately, the two main characters, Zobra the cat and Lucky the seagull, are sympathetic characters whom I care enough about to put up with the overwhelming cast ensemble. The tale also engages. How can it not? After all, it's about the unlikely pairing of a cat and a seagull. As a bonus, there is also a spattering of humor throughout-especially in the second half.

Children's books, especially older ones, often contain morals. Yet the less explicit the author is about the message, the more palatable it is. Unfortunately, some pages of this book read like an educational video-or, worse, a tract. For example, Sepulved teaches that "oil glues to the wings of a bird" thereby immobilizing and eventually killing them. Sepulved also preaches, through the cats, that "it's with the best intentions that humans cause the greatest damage". To illustrate, the cats refer to human Harry who knows his chimp is fond of beer. Every time the chimp is thirsty, Harry hands him a beer. Now the chimp is an alchoholic. As for the seagulls, they're dying because of all the pollution humans put into their oceans. In a way, the message is effective: I must have learned it, because I am paraphrasing it back to you. Yet truly, how many of us fondly remember school videos for any other reason that they represented escape from schoolwork? As for tracts, well, if we even bother to read them, we all know where we toss them in the end.

Yet there is still that title to contend with: How can a cat teach a seagull to fly? For that matter, how do a cat and a seagull even meet? Well, once upon a time, a cat came across a dying seagull who made him promise to watch over her egg, not EAT it, and when the time is right to teach her baby to fly.

Not every page of this book held my attention, but I still recommend the book. Luis Sepulved's passion for the care of nature sparkles on every page, which is something I commend. One day I hope to integrate such passion for nature into my stories, except with a subtler tone. Moreover, this is a short and sweet tale about honor. Zobra fights alley cats and rats and eventually even breaks a cat taboo-all in an attempt to honor his vow to a dying seagull. I like Zobra! And I like Lucky, who initially sees herself as a cat. If you can ignore the other flaws of the book, their story is worth the read.

this book not only tells a story but also teachs children how to love the others.

This book is on my favorite book shelf for this month at the bookstore in which I work.
My son reads to his daughter and I suggested this book. Both parent and child can appreciate this charming story and the clever way in which it is told. Very clever plot. I would have never guessed at the solution to the problem.