the seal on the beach

An inspiring story of hope and survival written and illustrated with lyricism, empathy and warmth.

　　Little Maggie is on holiday with her aunt and uncle. Meanwhile her mum waits for Maggie’s baby brother to come home from hospital. On a walk across the wild Norfolk shoreline, Maggie finds a seal pup stranded on the beach, all alone. She is the sweetest thing Maggie has ever seen. But without her mum, how will the seal survive? Who will rescue her and will she ever be returned to the sea, and find her family again? Expressed through her vivid dreams and thoughtful actions, Maggie longs for the rescue and survival of this dear little seal pup. And, all the while, she hopes with all her heart to be reunited with her own mum and baby brother again.

Mara Bergman is an award-winning children’s writer, poet and editor. She was born in NYC on leap year day and grew up on Long Island, and though she’s lived most of her life in the UK, she’s never lost her accent. Mara has always felt a strong link between poetry and picture books and loves to write both. Her picture books have won numerous awards in the UK and US; Oliver Who Would Not Sleep was a Bookstart choice and appeared on CBeebies, along with Itchy Itch Itch, illustrated by Emily Bolam. Oliver Who Travelled Far and Wide won the Booktrust Early Years Award. Her books have been translated into many languages worldwide. Mara lives in Kent. Find Mara online on X as @mara_bergman and on Instagram as @bergmanmara.

Brita Granström was born and educated in Sweden and moved to the UK in 1994. Her first book The World is Full of Babies (Watts) won the Smarties Silver Prize in 1996. Since then she has illustrated over a hundred titles and won five English Association Awards, five Royal Society prizes and two shortlistings for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Many of her titles are published by Walker Books including: Judy Hindley's Does a Cow Say Boo and Eyes, Nose, Fingers, Toes (winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Gold Award), Dolphin Baby (with Nicola Davies) and Zed's Bread (with Mick Manning). Brita also exhibits (with Thompson's Galleries) large landscape canvases of the wild landscape near her seaside home. Find her online at britagranstrom.com and on Instagram as @britagranstrom.