Animals 24-7

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Squee’s Great Escape

By

by Helene Hesselager O’Barry

Illustrated by Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz

Hardcover, 40 pages,  $19.78,

Reviewed by Beth Clifton

Through a young dolphin’s eyes in the vast ocean world,   Helene Hesselager O’Barry,  wife of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project founder Ric O’Barry and partner with him in freeing dolphins from captivity for more than 20 years,  brings her immense experience, empathy and compassion into a heartwarming and at times emotional  account of Squee,  a fun-loving young dolphin learning from his mother and family members.

(Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz)

Squee’s Great Escape seamlessly blends adventure, the beauty of nature and education in a way that children and adults can identify with in their own lives,  while learning about a world under the sea that some may never have the privilege of experiencing.

Wonderful & carefree

Squee’s life is wonderful and carefree,  as Helene points out that all dolphins’ lives should be.   Not unlike watching young human children playing in a playground,  I found myself visualizing Squee surfing the waves,  learning to catch his meals successfully,  and literally jumping for joy with an enviable sense of freedom.
One fateful day Squee is captured and stolen from his family.  They helplessly watch as Squee is hoisted into a boat and whisked away to a place with no sea life,  no fish to chase and no waves to surf.

(Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz)

Lifeless tank

The difficult journey and the lifeless tank where Squee is kept are very foreign to him. Squee is forced to do tricks and live in a way that he does not understand or enjoy.  He feels misunderstood and longs to be back in the vast ocean that was his home with his dolphin family.
One day,  like an angel from the sky,  a girl named Mai Li sees Squee and befriends him.  He trusts her.  Mai Li promises that with the help of her friend Ric,   she will get Squee back home where he belongs.  And so they do,  in a story clearly modeled on the O’Barry family’s real-life exploits,  including ten actual dolphin liberations in which author Helene has participated.

(Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz)

Illustrations are gorgeous

The story is beautifully told of a connection to the earth that all living creatures share,  both human and animal.
The illustrations by Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz are gorgeous and capture the essence of dolphin life and the adversities they must cope with.
And the story is satisfying,  describing a child who exhibits empathy and compassion at a young age, sees an injustice and sets out to right it,  with the help of an adult who empowers her to do what is right and just.

(Cheryl de los Reyes Cruz)

Where dolphins swim free

 As a mother of three and grandma to eight,  I believed that children’s books open doors and capture imaginations.  They were very much a part of our daily lives.   Once I have completed my review of this magnificent and relevant children’s book, I plan to send it to my own family in Florida,  where dolphins swim free and surf the waves for their entire lives,  as they should.
Within this book are some of life’s most important lessons.  And we are never too old to learn.  I’d like to thank the O’Barry family for the opportunity to review this one-of-a-kind-childrens’ story.  I smiled, laughed and cried while reading it.

Merritt & Beth Clifton

That is what a good book is all about.  I highly recommend it for everyone.

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Comments

  1. Jamaka Petzak says

    Sharing to socials with gratitude and hope. My parents taught me to read well before I entered school at age 4. I ate books from then on, and I agree so much, Beth, that they are essential during a child’s formative years in molding character and informing kids in so many important ways. Animal-themed books were, and still are, among my favorites; and I still love children’s books, having taken a course in writing for children and teenagers with the thought of adding to that pool of knowledge.