Seagulls soar by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Kasia Bogdanska

 Seagulls are often seen as pests, noisy, dirty, and annoying, but Sayre's crisp rhythms and Bogdanska's brilliant, colorful illustrations show them as graceful, fascinating birds.

Young listeners can follow the soaring seagulls from their journeys across the ocean to inland, wherever water can be found. They visit farms and beaches, dance, preen, mate, and hunt. They have many clever ways of finding food, from following tractors to snatching fish from hunting whales. New generations of seagulls are raised and join the flocks that soar "from ship to shore."

Bogdanska is a debut illustrator and her art has a classic, Little  Golden Book feel, but it's new and bright. Her seagulls shine with bright white light, fluff softly as chicks, and are tipped with black and brown feathers. They glide over red-roofed houses, through purple sunsets, and across blue seas.

Back matter explains more about what the seagulls are doing in each rhyming couplet and setting. Sayre explains how and why some gulls dance, how to identify different gulls, and how adaptable they are to different conditions.

Verdict: Another excellent nonfiction title from Sayre, a great choice for storytime, and introducing a new illustrator who shows great promise. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781684371976; Published April 2020 by Boyds Mills; Purchased for the library