The Gulls of the Edmund Fitzgerald

by Tres Seymour

Squawking gulls on Lake Superior warn of danger, for the hungry lake has swallowed up many ships, even the mighty Edmund Fitzgerald

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Tres Seymour is a picture book writer, illustrator, and ranger at Mammoth Cave National Park and lives with his wife in Park City, Kentucky.

Reviews

[Sarah Sammis]

In 1975 when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, I was two. Although I didn't know about the tragedy as a news event then, I grew up knowing the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" sung by Gordon Lightfoot. It wasn't until NPR reported on the 30th anniversary of the sinking that my interest in the wreck spread beyond the song.

Tres Seymour's book The Gulls of the Edmund Fitzgerald caught my eye at our local library. I liked the bold illustrations and the subject matter. especially since I was a child when the ship sank.

The picture book tells the story of a boy who is warned away from the waters of Lake Superior by some gulls just before another gale storm forms. As he puts his foot into the water, the ghosts from the different sunk ships come on the breaking foam to lure him into the waters.

Reviews I've read have reacted negatively because the book is too scary or too bleak. Yes, it is, but children become better rounded people by learning about the tragedies of life. I think it's important for children to learn how to recognize when the weather is turning dangerous. Why not use a famous event to teach this lesson?

[Dave]

It’s interesting that I missed some of the symbolism until I read other reviews. That really changed my thoughts on the book. This is not a light little story. It’s kind of dark, but masked as a children’s story.

A boy is ready to go out to swim in Lake Superior, but nature knows the weather isn’t good. Nature tells him the history of many downed ships on a day like this one.

Where I live, we are near Lake Michigan, but close enough that kids know Lake Superior. Some have even been there. So, I think this will be a good semi-local read aloud in my class.

[Jessica]

I had to SEARCH for this bad boy, let me tell you. It is a dark but appropriate story about the Edmund Fitz.

[Sally]

An interesting account of the sinking of the "Edmund Fitzgerald" by the sea gulls who 'were there.'
"Don't go near! Don't go near! Don't go near the water!"

Beautiful paper-cut illustrations.

[Cindi]

I liked the paper cut illustrations combined with grainy black and white photos of freighters, but I did not like the way Lake Superior is portrayed. My kids, who also have a great appreciation for that big, beautiful lake, didn't appreciate the message either! That said, we have never experienced a "gale of November" and it is best to use caution with a wild lake. We have been learning about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald since last year with with luck will attend some form of remembrance of the sinking on November 10th.

[J.D. Holman]

(Reviewed 11/9/2015) Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, so I'm preparing to do storytime based on the tragedy. It's hard to find appropriate books for preschool children on the topic, though! This book has nice paper-cutout illustrations, but it's too creepy for very young ones, in my opinion. Keep this for school-age children's lessons on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but the gulls' narrative here is a little disturbing.

Though wordier, I find Kathy-jo Wargin's "The Edmund Fitzgerald: The Song of the Bell" to be the better choice.

[Dillon]

This was a wonderful book that would be a great tool to read to students to introduce them to the famous shipwreck: The Edmund Fitzgerald. It uses real images for the Edmund Fitzgerald and the other shipwrecks in the Great Lakes that it talks about. The illustrations are made out of construction paper, and they are very well put together in my opinion.

[Jim]

beautiful book about the ship that sank, should have won awards for the art, quite powerful.

(about my catagories for the book - music although it has nothing to do w/the song that's my edmund fitzgerald association, and earthquakes because thats where i file all disaster books.)

[Fernando Morales]

Its a horror story :)