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Animal Ark [GB Order]
Seal on the Shore
It's the summer holidays and Mandy's staying with cousins Mary and Ross on the Scottish island of Jura. There's a seal colony nearby which Mandy is longing to visit. And on her first trip out in the boat, she and Ross discover a seal pup in distress. It's ill and abandoned and needs special care. Can Mandy win the baby seal's trust?
160 pages, Paperback
Published May 21, 1997
About the author
Lucy Daniels
351 books123 followersLucy Daniels is the collective name for the writing team that created the bestselling children's book series Animal Ark, many of the books are also published under the name of the series creator, Ben M. Baglio.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 9, 2024
I have a suspicion that this first Summer Special was originally titled Seal In the Shower because not only does that scene occur, but Mandy even laughs aloud, "Seal in the shower!" This was a quirk of the early books in the series -- that a character would yell out or say the book's title. And, quite frankly, wouldn't that have been a much better title?
But no, Hodder had to wimp out and go for Seal on the Shore.
This would be one of 35 or so Animal Ark books that Scholastic in America would choose not to publish. Why -- I wish I knew. Perhaps they thought it was too frightening? That they didn't like the attack on the oil industry? That the Animal Ark books weren't selling as well as they thought? That they didn't see this one selling due to a Tarot card reading?
Anyway, this was one of, if not the, last book in the series to mention that Mandy was an orphan. The Hopes adopted her when she was a baby. This little fact would vanish from the series much in the same way that Mandy's three rabbits did. The writer of the very first Animal Ark book, who set up the orphan and rabbit thing, was Jenny Oldfield, who also writes this book. She wrote most of the first 40 books.
As would be tradition for the Summer Specials, the Hopes are on holiday. Never mind that they spent six months in Australia, at least three months in Africa (I think this was published after the African trilogy) and who knows where else. The Hopes spend more time away from their veterinary practice than at it, or so it seems. Now they're in Scotland.
This time, James is not with them. His part is played by a local kid named Ross. The book begins with Mandy running away from Ross in frustration, since he was trying to scare her with ghost stories. In two years, Mandy would be stuck with a lot more lousey ghost stories with the launch of the Animal Ark Hauntings series.
This is a decent book which gets into some medical details on rescuing Scottish wildlife, like seals and oil-slicked seabirds. There is a bizarre bit at the end that keeps some action going. I have a feeling that might've been what scared Scholastic off.
Jenny Gregory did a good job with the illustrations. It could just be my copy, but they seemed fainter here than in other Animal Ark books that she did.
My edition had a different cover. Unfortunately, my tablet's cut and paste function doesn't work, so I can't include it. It's a reverse image of the French edition. I think mine was a first edition, since there's an ad at the back for the Animal Ark Newsletter, a snail mail production.
But no, Hodder had to wimp out and go for Seal on the Shore.
This would be one of 35 or so Animal Ark books that Scholastic in America would choose not to publish. Why -- I wish I knew. Perhaps they thought it was too frightening? That they didn't like the attack on the oil industry? That the Animal Ark books weren't selling as well as they thought? That they didn't see this one selling due to a Tarot card reading?
Anyway, this was one of, if not the, last book in the series to mention that Mandy was an orphan. The Hopes adopted her when she was a baby. This little fact would vanish from the series much in the same way that Mandy's three rabbits did. The writer of the very first Animal Ark book, who set up the orphan and rabbit thing, was Jenny Oldfield, who also writes this book. She wrote most of the first 40 books.
As would be tradition for the Summer Specials, the Hopes are on holiday. Never mind that they spent six months in Australia, at least three months in Africa (I think this was published after the African trilogy) and who knows where else. The Hopes spend more time away from their veterinary practice than at it, or so it seems. Now they're in Scotland.
This time, James is not with them. His part is played by a local kid named Ross. The book begins with Mandy running away from Ross in frustration, since he was trying to scare her with ghost stories. In two years, Mandy would be stuck with a lot more lousey ghost stories with the launch of the Animal Ark Hauntings series.
This is a decent book which gets into some medical details on rescuing Scottish wildlife, like seals and oil-slicked seabirds. There is a bizarre bit at the end that keeps some action going. I have a feeling that might've been what scared Scholastic off.
Jenny Gregory did a good job with the illustrations. It could just be my copy, but they seemed fainter here than in other Animal Ark books that she did.
My edition had a different cover. Unfortunately, my tablet's cut and paste function doesn't work, so I can't include it. It's a reverse image of the French edition. I think mine was a first edition, since there's an ad at the back for the Animal Ark Newsletter, a snail mail production.
April 29, 2026
Loved it. At least by reading about these adorable creatures I get to know about them even if I have never seen one in real life. Quick and fun read and nostalgic with summer vacation vibes transporting me right back to my childhood , though I didn't have much to do on vacations. Wished I had so much to read as a child which sadly also didn't happen, though I did get to read some. All in all enjoyed it. As a grown adult finding new thrills in reading children's book again.
Read
July 8, 2020It's great
Read
August 7, 2011I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.
Want to Read
June 25, 2013Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!
December 17, 2008
A really cute story! I'd love to visit some of the seal rescue clinics over in the UK!
October 15, 2014
one of my favorite childhood books
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews