Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas

Lynne Cox & Brian Floca

- 4.5 • 4 Ratings

- $6.99

- $6.99

World-renowned swimmer and bestselling author Lynne Cox and Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Brian Floca team up to bring us this inspiring story of an elephant seal who knew exactly where she belonged.

Here is the incredible story of Elizabeth, a real-life elephant seal who made her home in the Avon River in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. When Elizabeth decides to stretch out across a two-lane road, the citizens worry she might get hurt or cause traffic accidents, so a group of volunteers tows her out to sea. But Elizabeth swims all the way back to Christchurch. The volunteers catch her again and again—each time towing her farther, even hundreds of miles away—but, still, Elizabeth finds her way back home.

Includes back matter with information about elephant seals.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY FEB 24, 2014

It's tempting to call this a true fish-out-of-water story, except the eponymous heroine is actually an elephant seal, and she doesn't see herself as displaced when she parks herself across a two-lane road in Christchurch, New Zealand. "Maybe she liked the feel of the warm firmness under her belly," writes long-distance swimmer Cox (Swimming to Antarctica), "or maybe it was the sunshine fanning out across her back. But whatever it was, she decided to stay." After many failed attempts to transport Elizabeth (who weighs "as much as fifteen Labrador retrievers") to safer, more seal-friendly ground, her adoring but concerned public finally reaches a rapprochement with this sweet-faced force of nature; a photo of the real Elizabeth sprawled in her favorite spot appears in the afterword. The low-key text is beautifully amplified by Floca's visual narrative, which takes readers from the busy downtown to distant, misty shores. The newly minted Caldecott winner may be best known for his more encyclopedic works, but he proves that whether the subject is trains or stubborn seals, he's a master storyteller. Ages 4 8.

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