This was a great story full of great illustrations, a rhyming story, some repetition and wonderful Seagull characters that want their beach back. Seagull Sid and his friends were tired of humans coming to the beach, leaving their garbage behind and not taking care of the environment. They came up with a rather nasty way to get the humans to leave their beach alone. Many reviewers commented that this was a disgusting story and did not like it at all. Reading this to a 6 year old, he thought it was hilarious. He loved seeing someone who was doing something upsetting to the seagulls get pooped on. He is already a pretty environmentally aware kid and does not leave garbage and other stuff lying around in nature, so he had no issue about the humans learning a lesson the smelly way. The illustrations were cute and cartoonish which was also very appealing to my grandson. We liked it, although there were a few bumps in the poetry as the metre changed a few times, but overall, we enjoyed this story together.

Sid the seagull and his band of friends live by the beach. Those pesky humans are always taking over the seagulls’ territory. To get rid of the sunbathers, swimmers and picnickers, Sid talks his buddies into dropping some bombs...if you know what I mean. As a team, they take back their territory. The people flee in a hurry, leaving behind quite a feast for the birds.

This book will appeal to the potty humor crowd. Not only Is there a lot of bird poop, there are also some butt cracks to be seen on the beach.
This might be a deal breaker for some parents, but the kids will probably eat it up (eeeewwww....not literally.....poorly placed idiom).

Illustrations are fun and colorful.

A slightly funny book with a disgusting message, that it's okay to seek revenge on the people you think deserve it. I'm not a fan of this book. Seems a bit useless to me.

Sid and the seagulls beach is overrun by humans sunbathing, picnicking, and having beach-y fun. But they have had enough and Sid devised a plan of attack. A fun rhyming verse makes this an extra fun book to read with small children (aged 3-7). Avoid if you do not like potty humor.

OMG! So on target and so funny! Humans are a disaster and have made quite a mess of every place they go. It's pretty funny to see the dumper birds of the beach get revenge! Illustrations were hilarious!

The topics of pollution and environmental responsibility are inarguably important and relevant. The way that Seagull Sid and his pals “take aim” at the human polluters on the beach is crassly humorous, but it doesn’t so much as hint at getting people to clean up their acts (or their beaches.) A reprint from 2005 and 2012, Seagull Sid and the Naughty Things His Seagulls Did! was written by Dawn McMillan and illustrated by Ross Kinnaird.

The meter of this rhyming story is quite inconsistent, making for an awkward read. The rhymes present as contrived and even cringey at some points. The illustrations leave a bit to be desired, in my opinion. Something about them feels incomplete, and the book as a whole doesn’t seem quite ready for presentation as a final draft.


Thanks to NetGalley and Dover Publications for the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest and unbiased. #NetGalley #SeagullSid

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I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. There are no such things as Seagulls, only gulls. Jonathon London ruined it for everyone. THe being said, great story, great illustrations, and an excellent message.

A reprint of a book from 2012, this is a jolly lark about seagulls dive-bombing (and more!) those pesky humans who want to picnic on the beach. It's fine, and looks good, but loses its rhythm in the actual attack, and kind of misses the trick, too. In only those seven years we've gone so far in recognising the problems of oceanic plastics, and a page of this to show these humans in need of a moral lesson in how they treat their natural surroundings would not have gone amiss. As it is, while these are just gulls being gulls, they do read as a little selfish themselves. Three and a half stars.

I don't know who thought this disgusting story was a good idea. I may be biased because I've been pooped on by these flying rats, and I wasn't doing anything to deserve it (I was just minding my own business, trying to eat my lunch in the school courtyard... and a seagull decided to splatter diarrhea all over me).

This book, written in terribly clunky rhyme, is about Sid and his seagull friends who are tired of the humans making a mess of the beach, so they decide to chase them away. First of all, this premise makes no sense, unless the seagulls are really, really stupid (spoiler alert: they are). Where are these scavengers going to get all their treats if they deter humans from coming to the beach? That wasn't thought out very well. Especially since the book shows the seagulls feasting on the abandoned picnics. Short term gain? What happens if the humans decide not to come back to the poop-strewn beach?

Because, see, that's the thing about this book. It's appallingly disgusting. Yes, the humans leaving trash everywhere is gross... but so is the seagulls' solution. They poop on everything. They poop on the people. Then they start pooping on the food. Um... don't crap where you eat? I guess they've never heard that saying because, at the end, they all sit down to a poop-covered feast! (That sound you hear is me gagging.)

And, as if the subject matter wasn't gross enough, the book had to go and get sexist with Freda:

And then there was Freda
with potential as leader,
but they didn't need her...

So why the heck are you bringing her up?! Sid is shown as the leader of the seagulls, so why bring up Freda at all? Just to point out that one of the few female characters in this book is unneeded?

About the only thing I liked in this book was the one-legged seagull with his eye patch. The rest of the illustrations are forgettable, and weirdly gender binary. (Apparently, it's important that we know which seagulls are female, so they're drawn wearing jewellery; Freda even has a fancy hairstyle.)

After all that, the seagulls didn't even do anything about their original problem, which was the dirty beach. They chased away the only creatures actually capable of cleaning up the mess. I'm not sure what the message of this book is supposed to be, other than threatening kids with having a seagull poop on them if they litter. Really, though, seagulls could do that anyway, for no real reason.

Sorry... but I don't get it.

Very silly book that I think young independent readers within a 5-7 age range will really enjoy. The pictures are bright and eye-catching, the story which features Sid and his friends trying to reclaim their beach from messy humans is fun, and I think children with a more mischievous side will get a lot out of it.

Recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to #netgalley for giving me a copy of #SeagullSid to review. This is a cute book about seagulls that are upset with humans taking over the beach. They take matters into their own hands to get the humans to leave. This book would be great for fans of Captain Underpants. It's a silly book that would be a good fit for independent reading.

This is a fun and funny look at the ecological behaviour of seagulls at the seaside. It’s perfect reading for a bedtime and will certainly get a chuckle out of your little ones.

I love this story and I KNOW that kids will too.

"We'll tell you the story of Seagull Sid,
and the naughty things his seagulls did
to reclaim what gulls had owned before
people came to the sandy shore!'

Thus begins an hilarious tale of a flock of seagulls who hatch a plan, and execute it with great precision, upon invasive inconsiderate humans who have totally decimated their lovely beachfront.

"These people brought boats, and surf skis fantastic!
But they littered the beach with cans and plastic,
then lay on the sand, row upon row,
with tummies and bottoms up for show!"

Seagull Sid has had quite enough of their irreverent behaviour and one sunny Sunday he rallies his seagull troops and they stage an attack to get rid of those disrespectful humans once and for all. You will be quite surprised (and delighted) at their weapons of choice. You will laugh-out loud as their messy air attacks escalate as they try to obliterate those inconsiderate human beings. But will their plan actually work and drive those slovenly crowds away for good?

This delightful book is written in rhyme. Both kids and adults will love it I'm sure. The illustrations are truly amazing. They are full of humour, action and expression and make the text come alive. I like the fact that Seagull Sid wears an eye patch and the human characters portrayed are spot-on perfect. I highly recommend this book.