SEAMORE, THE VERY FORGETFUL PORPOISE

Take a sweet and innocent story, twist it with a little surrealism, unleash Seibold’s Never-Never-Land artwork upon it and—say presto!—you will have a celebration of the passing strange that refuses to grow old. Edgemon’s story is a most suitable vehicle for Seibold: dear and deadpan. As noted, young Seamore is a very forgetful porpoise, and we are not talking multiplication tables or the capitals of South American countries. Seamore forgets who his friends are; he forgets how to play his favorite games. What’s a memory-challenged porpoise to do? His quest leads him to discover 1) he has a hole in the top of his head and 2) that he has forgotten killer whales are his mortal enemies. Not to worry, though, for if Kevin the killer whale has spooky eyes, he hasn’t a porpoise-eating bone in his body. The matter-of-fact storyline is picked out with clever corniness, while the illustrations bring touches of tropical color to the otherwise soft-hued canvases as they pump every ounce of drollery out of the text. (Picture book. 4-8)