Sealed with a Kiss is one of those books that you think my might not like, but turns out you do, but not as much as you might have hoped.
Beth Ferry’s story about a new seal in town and how she tries to make friends is amusing. Our seal heroine is new at the zoo and wants to make friends. When the sparrow comes down and gives her a kiss, she knows that to make friends she cannot sit and wait for them to come to her, she will go to them. She gets ready to go out, and with a very stinky fish in her math. This makes all the kisses, well less than friendly. All the zoo animals make a fuss and hurt our seals feelings. But it that same sparrow that started it all that finishes it too. The fact the animals realize their mistake is handled well. They have a silly, but sweet, way of asking to be forgiven for hurting seals feelings.
However, they never address the fact Seal kisses the other animals (or sparrow for that matter) without permission. And the French accent our seal friend has might be too much. But those can be overlooked (even the kisses, as it could be a talking point if your child has an issue with that) as it is just a fun story about making friends and being kind.
It is the awkward illustrations of Olivier Tallec that will most likely make or break the book for you. They are quirky but have some cute points. Yet, a couple of the animals seem to be hybrids or not realistic (an anteater-giraffe; a blue rhino). This is a book that will be a case by case like or dislike depending on the reader.