Seabird (novel)
Seabird is a 1948 book for children and young people, written and illustrated by Holling Clancy Holling. The ship's boy on an 1830 whaling ship uses his years of off duty time and walrus tusks traded from an Eskimo to carve an ivory gull, which later serves as the family mascot.[1] The book follows the gull until it rides in a jet airplane.
Each odd numbered page has a picture of an aspect of life at sea. The facing even numbered pages carry the text with wide margins filled with labeled drawings of details of history or natural history, such as how oil was taken from a whale that was too big to bring on board, and how the shape of a ship's bow depends on its intended use.[2]
First published in 1948, Seabird was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1949.[3]