Smug Seagull; by Maddie Frost (review)

Our narrator, the titular Seagull, prides himself on being the best snack stealer on the beach. As he espouses his talent for larceny, he swoops around the sand and swipes every edible in sight. Little does he know there’s some competition on this sunny day: a tiny crab with snatching skills of his own. The story, unfolding in speech balloons and often in sequential panels, is full of comedic antics, with Seagull wreaking havoc on the otherwise quiet beach. The minimal text is conversational, casual, and it’s almost entirely in the form of Seagull’s self-congratulatory monologue, and his attempts to stop little Crab from stealing snacks feature delightful mild peril. Seagull’s flapping wings and expressive eyebrows add plenty of enjoyable histrionics, and there’s a modest lesson when Crab teaches Seagull to use politeness to acquire pizza and pretzels. Frost’s mixed media and digitally brushed art includes plenty of visual gags that may be more appreciated by parents than young audiences, such as Seagull’s admonishment to ignore the “boring copyright stuff.” This is a quick summertime romp for future fans of Dav Pilkey.