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The Selkie Girl
A retelling of the ancient legend from the coasts and islands of Scotland and Ireland in which a man falls in love with a beautiful seal girl and forces her to live on land and be his bride.
30 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
3 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Susan Cooper
135 books2,473 followersSusan Cooper's latest book is the YA novel "Ghost Hawk" (2013)
Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times; her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Cooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition; "Over Sea, Under Stone" would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, "The Dark Is Rising." The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King," won the Newbery Medal in 1976. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.
Cooper went on to write other well-received novels, including "The Boggart" (and its sequel "The Boggart and the Monster"), "King of Shadows", and "Victory," as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. Hume Cronyn died in 2003 and Ms. Cooper now lives in Marshfield MA. When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.
Recent books include the collaborative project "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and her biography of Jack Langstaff titled "The Magic Maker." Her newest book is "Ghost Hawk."
Visit her Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/SusanCooperFanPage
www.facebook.com/GhostHawkBySusanCooper
Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times; her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Cooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition; "Over Sea, Under Stone" would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, "The Dark Is Rising." The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King," won the Newbery Medal in 1976. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.
Cooper went on to write other well-received novels, including "The Boggart" (and its sequel "The Boggart and the Monster"), "King of Shadows", and "Victory," as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. Hume Cronyn died in 2003 and Ms. Cooper now lives in Marshfield MA. When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.
Recent books include the collaborative project "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and her biography of Jack Langstaff titled "The Magic Maker." Her newest book is "Ghost Hawk."
Visit her Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/SusanCooperFanPage
www.facebook.com/GhostHawkBySusanCooper
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 3, 2019
The selkie folklore of Scotland and Ireland is the basis (according to the dust-jacket blurb) for this engaging picture-book from Susan Cooper, acclaimed children's fantasist, and author of the classic
Dark Is Rising Sequence
. Following the story of a crofter named Donallan, and his efforts to win the beautiful selkie maiden he spies one day, dancing naked on the rocks in her human form, The Selkie Girl is a tale of love and trickery, and a wild creature's longing, despite all ties of land and motherhood, for her natural home.
I wish Cooper had given her source material for this one, as her telling felt far more Scottish to me - perhaps because I associate "crofters" with Scotland? - than Irish, and I would have liked to know from which tradition, and area, it hailed. Leaving that aside, I enjoyed the narrative, which had a poignancy that felt very fitting, for a story of a coerced marriage. I appreciated the fact that Cooper didn't elide some of the adult aspects of the story - the nakedness of the selkies, for instance, or the fact that the selkie already had children, in the sea - as this made the conclusion, in which it is the sea-children's "turn" with their mother, all the more poignant. Sadly, I don't think that Warwick Hutton's artwork really did justice to this story, or to Cooper's text - it felt a little too flat and unmoving to me, and not at all reminiscent of the eternally changing sea - and this detracted from my enjoyment (hence the three stars, rather than four). I much prefer Mordicai Gerstein's illustrations, in his similar title, The Seal Mother .
Still, this was an appealing book, for all that, and one I would recommend to young folklore enthusiasts, and to readers with an interest in selkie stories.
I wish Cooper had given her source material for this one, as her telling felt far more Scottish to me - perhaps because I associate "crofters" with Scotland? - than Irish, and I would have liked to know from which tradition, and area, it hailed. Leaving that aside, I enjoyed the narrative, which had a poignancy that felt very fitting, for a story of a coerced marriage. I appreciated the fact that Cooper didn't elide some of the adult aspects of the story - the nakedness of the selkies, for instance, or the fact that the selkie already had children, in the sea - as this made the conclusion, in which it is the sea-children's "turn" with their mother, all the more poignant. Sadly, I don't think that Warwick Hutton's artwork really did justice to this story, or to Cooper's text - it felt a little too flat and unmoving to me, and not at all reminiscent of the eternally changing sea - and this detracted from my enjoyment (hence the three stars, rather than four). I much prefer Mordicai Gerstein's illustrations, in his similar title, The Seal Mother .
Still, this was an appealing book, for all that, and one I would recommend to young folklore enthusiasts, and to readers with an interest in selkie stories.
October 5, 2021
The tale of the selkie taken from the sea is one of the most enduring and enchanting of the Celtic myths.
Here a lonely crofter takes a melodious blonde selkie for his bride, but is warned at the beginning by a codger that 'a wild creature will always go back to the wild, in the end', (shades of Jack London). The story by Susan Cooper is simply told and balanced: the selkie doesn't laugh or sing and longs for the sea, but has a life with the man and their five children, at whom she smiles.
The illustrations have divided the GR community. They are simple watercolours in the Shaun Tan mould, and the far away quality fits the tone of the story rather well I think.
Here a lonely crofter takes a melodious blonde selkie for his bride, but is warned at the beginning by a codger that 'a wild creature will always go back to the wild, in the end', (shades of Jack London). The story by Susan Cooper is simply told and balanced: the selkie doesn't laugh or sing and longs for the sea, but has a life with the man and their five children, at whom she smiles.
The illustrations have divided the GR community. They are simple watercolours in the Shaun Tan mould, and the far away quality fits the tone of the story rather well I think.
August 13, 2011
Pretty basic retelling of the "selkie bride" story, not really much elaboration aside from adding personal names. I did like that Cooper didn't shy away from the essential rape and imprisonment that characterize this story.
Hutton's illustrations are, as usual, completely uninteresting.
Hutton's illustrations are, as usual, completely uninteresting.
January 1, 2021
Beautiful story. We didn’t love the illustrations as they were poorly done.
October 1, 2017
This was one of those books that I tripped upon at the library while trying to find a mermaid book that I had read as a young adult. And so being interested by the cover I chose to give it a try to see if there was anything that would be new in the retelling from of the Selkie story and to see how the author chose to tell this particular one.
First of all I have to say I am disappointed for as much as I like the cover photo it isn't even included in the actual story and the rest of the photos are rather bland. The seals are the ones who mostly come out looking decent in most pictures although there are a few missed point spots while the humans were definitely nothing to look at nor some of the other animals like the dog Angus. For such a mystical creature and a magical story I would have preferred at least better illustrations to go with the retelling itself since they would have added that special spice to the story or at least it would seem so in my own opinion.
Otherwise I do have to give props to the author for using elements and names that would have pertained mostly to the time. The inclusion of these elements in the story and the illustrations helped to make this story feel more realistic than normal tellings in which these particular background details are ignored.
Another aspect that bugged me also was the fact that the Selkies weren't truly explained to the reader so if you are someone who has just come upon this book than you may be a bit confused. Although the most important elements of the selkie legend has been kept in the telling of the story they may not quite make much sense for those coming upon these mystical creatures.
Fortunately, though, to balance out my above complaint even though the story does imply against the forced marriage and detainment of Mairi although not being so blatent about it. But it also does go an extra step in making her acceptable to readers unlike other versions where she seems cold as she flees from her human children. Unlike other stories where she dons her pelt and vanishes she is given a really good reason as to why she wants to return home to the sea although it does in a sense makes her imprisonment on land even more painful to the reader.
All in all it was a decent retelling of the Selkie story and one that readers may enjoy who have a love of these folktales. Due to the implications of the Selkie story and the lack of Selkie explanation I would suggest this as a book directed towards young adults and/or those adults who enjoy the fairytales instead of providing the book for young readers even though its dimensions imply that it belongs to the realm of children books.
First of all I have to say I am disappointed for as much as I like the cover photo it isn't even included in the actual story and the rest of the photos are rather bland. The seals are the ones who mostly come out looking decent in most pictures although there are a few missed point spots while the humans were definitely nothing to look at nor some of the other animals like the dog Angus. For such a mystical creature and a magical story I would have preferred at least better illustrations to go with the retelling itself since they would have added that special spice to the story or at least it would seem so in my own opinion.
Otherwise I do have to give props to the author for using elements and names that would have pertained mostly to the time. The inclusion of these elements in the story and the illustrations helped to make this story feel more realistic than normal tellings in which these particular background details are ignored.
Another aspect that bugged me also was the fact that the Selkies weren't truly explained to the reader so if you are someone who has just come upon this book than you may be a bit confused. Although the most important elements of the selkie legend has been kept in the telling of the story they may not quite make much sense for those coming upon these mystical creatures.
Fortunately, though, to balance out my above complaint even though the story does imply against the forced marriage and detainment of Mairi although not being so blatent about it. But it also does go an extra step in making her acceptable to readers unlike other versions where she seems cold as she flees from her human children. Unlike other stories where she dons her pelt and vanishes she is given a really good reason as to why she wants to return home to the sea although it does in a sense makes her imprisonment on land even more painful to the reader.
All in all it was a decent retelling of the Selkie story and one that readers may enjoy who have a love of these folktales. Due to the implications of the Selkie story and the lack of Selkie explanation I would suggest this as a book directed towards young adults and/or those adults who enjoy the fairytales instead of providing the book for young readers even though its dimensions imply that it belongs to the realm of children books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2023
Fairly traditional retelling of the selkie myth. I appreciate the author not shying away from the obvious subject of kidnapping, but the characters were pretty blank-sheets devoid of personality. I did think the picture book was also surprisingly wordy for something that is probably geared more towards a younger reading audience. The artwork was also a little dull. While I appreciate the illustrator's use of watercolor and the way he captures light his illustrations are not very emotive and not conducive to story-telling.
May 22, 2008
A lovely, poignant retelling of the traditional Celtic folktale about a young man who falls in love with a selkie, a seal who magically sheds her skin to become a woman on land one day each year. A good readaloud selection for children ages 4-8."
SPL Summary: "A retelling of the legend from British coasts and islands in which a man falls in love with a beautiful seal girl and forces her to live on land and be his bride."
SLJ: "Kindergarten-Grade 3. Cooper retells this ancient folktale from the coastal regions of Ireland and Scotland in a simple, direct storybook style, which... captures enough of the essence to appeal to young readers. Hutton's watercolors match and extend Cooper's narrative in the best traditional "picture story book" fashion..."
PW: "The illustrious author and artist have created a haunting version of the Scottish folktale about the selkie...The lyrical text weaves a tale of sweeping dimension; this is storytelling at its finest. Particularly lovely are Hutton's sensitive and muted watercolors..."
SPL Summary: "A retelling of the legend from British coasts and islands in which a man falls in love with a beautiful seal girl and forces her to live on land and be his bride."
SLJ: "Kindergarten-Grade 3. Cooper retells this ancient folktale from the coastal regions of Ireland and Scotland in a simple, direct storybook style, which... captures enough of the essence to appeal to young readers. Hutton's watercolors match and extend Cooper's narrative in the best traditional "picture story book" fashion..."
PW: "The illustrious author and artist have created a haunting version of the Scottish folktale about the selkie...The lyrical text weaves a tale of sweeping dimension; this is storytelling at its finest. Particularly lovely are Hutton's sensitive and muted watercolors..."
January 8, 2016
I have a few versions of this story lying around the house but this might be my favorite as it puts the most positive spin possible on the whole concept. And most of the other versions do not mention the selkie having children in the sea. I find this story fascinating and kids love the tale, even though some little ones might get freaked out about the possibility of mama leaving.
February 18, 2015
Very ambiguous story - probably too complicated for children. Decent pictures.
Read
March 21, 2017Cooper, Susan. The Selkie Girl. Illus. by Warwick Hutton. 1986. Aladdin, 1991. Print.
Cooper's retelling of a Scottish fairy tale allows readers to become acquainted with a lesser-known story and may pique children's curiosity in how the traditional stories told in different cultures are both alike and different from each other. Children interested in fantasy and fairy tales will especially enjoy this book and may enjoy comparing it to more well-known fairy tales with similar themes, such as "The Little Mermaid." A teacher interested in using this book in the classroom could pair it with another fairy tales and ask his or her students to compare and contrast the two stories, looking at such factors as the motivations and desires of the main characters as well as the decisions that those characters ultimately made. For example, while Mairi is taken from the ocean against her will and longs to go back, the little mermaid wants to leave the ocean and stay on land with her prince.
Cooper's retelling of a Scottish fairy tale allows readers to become acquainted with a lesser-known story and may pique children's curiosity in how the traditional stories told in different cultures are both alike and different from each other. Children interested in fantasy and fairy tales will especially enjoy this book and may enjoy comparing it to more well-known fairy tales with similar themes, such as "The Little Mermaid." A teacher interested in using this book in the classroom could pair it with another fairy tales and ask his or her students to compare and contrast the two stories, looking at such factors as the motivations and desires of the main characters as well as the decisions that those characters ultimately made. For example, while Mairi is taken from the ocean against her will and longs to go back, the little mermaid wants to leave the ocean and stay on land with her prince.
May 19, 2017
I remember checking this out from the public library when I was a little kid and the story always stayed with me, but I couldn't remember the title. Recently I was able to find the title and checked it out from my library. it was interesting and mystical, but now I can also see how depressing the story was. Fortunately, it was wrapped up with a somewhat happy ending. I'm glad I had a chance to revisit this story from my childhood.
March 24, 2020
Well written, but such a disturbing story. The dude forces her to marry him by stealing her skin, because he’s “in-love” with her. It promotes insightful discussions, but not a story for too young of a child. I would recommend asking any kids you read it with, “do you think he was a good man for doing that?” Or, “how do you think that made her feel?” It’s one of those stories where you feel so bad for the woman, and love her obviously massive skill in forgiveness.
August 18, 2020
I had trouble with this book. I appreciate the retelling of the myth and the art. But the lack of free will and consent was problematic. Enchanted, the man will stop at nothing to have the beautiful woman as his. Her skin stolen, the woman has no choice but to obey and marry the man. Thank goodness for her clever, selfless children who make it possible for her to go back to her family in the sea.
April 1, 2022
This book was chosen to read for one of my college courses to discuss, and this was hard for me to decide how to rate this book because the tale is strange; it is about a man name Donallen who falls in love with a beautiful woman out of the three he saw naked on the rock singing on the beach, then their change into a seal and dive into the water. Donallen wants her as his wife, so he tricked her and married her. It is a strange tale of marriage by force, but the artwork is stunning!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2020
Boring, doesn’t add anything to the selkie myth. I wouldn’t give this to a child because the message isn’t great and the characters are boring, and the art is very ugly. No cool drawings of Ireland or seals or transformation.
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July 3, 2021
An introduction to the traditional Welsh folktale. I somehow hadn't heard of selkies before, but this book has made me curious about them. I would've given this book 5 stars, but I didn't like the art style of the illustrations. They're not very engaging.
August 6, 2017
I have never read a story about selkies before. This story was so sad and heartbreaking the art was really soft but beautiful
September 3, 2017
An interesting story, but a weird one. The girl was basically kidnapped and forced to marry the main character; not exactly a good moral story for kids.
June 1, 2019
What a lovely story! I really liked this one :)
June 30, 2019
I read this to my kids for homeschool during our Ocean unit.
Read
April 1, 2016Aarne-Thompson-Uther Motif #413: Marriage by Stealing Clothing
(The Dove Girl, The Selkie Girl, The Deer and the Woodcutter)
Folktale
Target audience: 4-10 years
In the northern British Isles, a man sees three beautiful women sitting on a rock in the ocean. When they spot him, they jump into the water and turn into seals. The man has fallen in love with one of them, and asks the advice of an elder who tells him that if he steals one of the woman’s sealskins, she will stay a human. He does this, and he marries one of the sealwoman (selkie). They live together for years and have five children, but the selkie never stops longing for the sea. One day, one of her children comes across her sealskin, and the selkie becomes a seal once more. Her family on shore never sees her again, but they know she is watching them and bringing them good luck.
Strengths:
-Engaging illustrations
-The story is simple and straightforward.
Weaknesses:
-Some parents may find the story objectionable.
-It’s very wordy for a picture book - about one paragraph per page (though this is often standard for picture book fairy tale retellings)
Susan Cooper is best-known for her excellent The Dark is Rising Sequence. This story is a retelling of the famous selkie tale of Celtic folklore. ATU #413 tales (marriage by stealing clothing) is a universal motif, with tales of this sort being found all around the world, from Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Some folklorists have theorized that this type of tale could be many thousands of years old. The shapeshifting animal is different in all of these places, and in Scotland and Ireland they take the form of seals. Despite this tale’s possible ancient origin, there may be questions as to its appropriateness today. I came upon one article online complaining about this particular book being used in some Common Core lessons, with parents complaining about forced marriage and implied rape in the book. While I don’t personally have such objections to this book, it is definitely something worth considering if an educator is contemplating using this book in a lesson plan.
I enjoyed this book. Selkies are an interesting folkloric creature and there aren’t many picture books that explore them. Susan Cooper is credited here as “retelling” this story (as opposed to authoring it), but there is no exact source of the tale listed. I thought the story was well-written, but I didn’t love the illustrations. They weren’t in a style I enjoyed and I thought some aspects, like the characters’ clothing, didn’t do a good job of making the story feel timeless.
(The Dove Girl, The Selkie Girl, The Deer and the Woodcutter)
Folktale
Target audience: 4-10 years
In the northern British Isles, a man sees three beautiful women sitting on a rock in the ocean. When they spot him, they jump into the water and turn into seals. The man has fallen in love with one of them, and asks the advice of an elder who tells him that if he steals one of the woman’s sealskins, she will stay a human. He does this, and he marries one of the sealwoman (selkie). They live together for years and have five children, but the selkie never stops longing for the sea. One day, one of her children comes across her sealskin, and the selkie becomes a seal once more. Her family on shore never sees her again, but they know she is watching them and bringing them good luck.
Strengths:
-Engaging illustrations
-The story is simple and straightforward.
Weaknesses:
-Some parents may find the story objectionable.
-It’s very wordy for a picture book - about one paragraph per page (though this is often standard for picture book fairy tale retellings)
Susan Cooper is best-known for her excellent The Dark is Rising Sequence. This story is a retelling of the famous selkie tale of Celtic folklore. ATU #413 tales (marriage by stealing clothing) is a universal motif, with tales of this sort being found all around the world, from Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Some folklorists have theorized that this type of tale could be many thousands of years old. The shapeshifting animal is different in all of these places, and in Scotland and Ireland they take the form of seals. Despite this tale’s possible ancient origin, there may be questions as to its appropriateness today. I came upon one article online complaining about this particular book being used in some Common Core lessons, with parents complaining about forced marriage and implied rape in the book. While I don’t personally have such objections to this book, it is definitely something worth considering if an educator is contemplating using this book in a lesson plan.
I enjoyed this book. Selkies are an interesting folkloric creature and there aren’t many picture books that explore them. Susan Cooper is credited here as “retelling” this story (as opposed to authoring it), but there is no exact source of the tale listed. I thought the story was well-written, but I didn’t love the illustrations. They weren’t in a style I enjoyed and I thought some aspects, like the characters’ clothing, didn’t do a good job of making the story feel timeless.
March 14, 2012
What a lovely, eerie story! I wish I could have read this as a child, it would have blown my mind. I'm sure I would have believed in selkies and suspected every eccentric dark eyed woman who lived near any body of water of being a selkie. What a lovely, weird idea. I have a movie that's got this story in it, The Secret of Roan Inish. Very cool, beautiful but weird movie. This is folktales at their best!
March 1, 2008
I've always loves stories of selkies, and this is one of my favorites.
February 15, 2009
This book was great. Fantasy,mermaids, all that jazz.
April 8, 2011
Intended Audience:
Personal Appeal:
The mystery of the story keeps your attention. The sadness is also
Illustrations:
Text:
Personal Appeal:
The mystery of the story keeps your attention. The sadness is also
Illustrations:
Text:
November 27, 2012
Not sure if this is the actual version I read, but it is a haunting Irish legend of longing and the desire to control versus the need to free that which we truly love.
June 9, 2016
Most of all I wish I saw this book on YouTube. Usually from Children's Circle; The Pigs' Wedding and other stories.
September 16, 2015
A lovely version of the traditional Selkie story that has a sweet wistfulness that captures the lilt of a storyteller's voice
February 15, 2016
Read this as a child, stayed with me even after all these years
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews