The Serpent Came to Gloucester
“Perfect for reading aloud on a moonlit night along the shore where waves and monsters can be glimpsed in the distance.” — Boston Globe
Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Candlewick Press (2005)
ISBN: 9780763620387
Ages: 6-9
Awards
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts ● Junior Library Guild Selection
It came from the sea, from the lonely sea,
It came from the glittering sea.
In a small Massachusetts fishing village in August of 1817, dozens of citizens claimed to have seen an enormous sea serpent swimming off the coast. Terrified at first, the people of Gloucester eventually became quite accustomed to their new neighbor. Adventure seekers came from miles around to study the serpent and aggressively hunt it down, but the creature eluded capture. The Gloucester sea serpent was then, and remains now, a complete mystery.
Reviving the rhythms and tone of a traditional sea chanty, M.T. Anderson recounts this exhilarating sea adventure through the eyes of a little boy who secretly hopes for the serpent's survival. The author's captivating verse is paired with Bagram Ibatoulline's luminous paintings, created in the spirit of nineteenth-century New England maritime artists.
Reviews
“Perfect for reading aloud on a moonlit night along the shore where waves and monsters can be glimpsed in the distance.” — Boston Globe
“Looking for a bit of proto- 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' ghostliness, subtly mixed with humor, rhymes and gleefully mysterious pictures? Here you go.” — Chicago Tribune
“Anderson's rousing, old-fashioned ballad relates the strange and just possibly true story of a sea serpent's sudden, dramatic appearance in the local Massachusetts waters.” — Parenting
“A moving environmental allegory.” — Natural History
“A ballad many will assume came straight from some leather-bound volume of romantic poetry.” — Booklist
“Don’t miss this heartwarming tale of a wondrous and apparently real event.” — Book Page
“Middle-graders on patrol for sea monsters should … be well pleased with this tale ‘from the ancient and wrinkled old sea.’” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“Young monster lovers will share the wonder of this never-solved mystery, and applaud when a company of sea-hunter's strenuous efforts to kill the monster yield only a large mackerel.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An evocative introduction to poetic narrative, local legends, or an exploration of a tantalizing subject.” — School Library Journal
“Verses full of chuckles and gasps.” — Publishers Weekly