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When the spirit guide changes her into a seal, Tiktala learns the ways of seals and how harmful humans can be.

Gr 2-6 Tiktala is a modern Inuit girl who wants to be a soapstone carver, but first she must find her spirit helper. The beginning of the story, in which Tiktala goes to a town meeting called to determine who is "...willing to learn the secrets of the old carvers," is slow and predictable. But once the girl begins her search and becomes a seal, the action and interest pick up. She swims with another seal, Tulimak, who does not trust humans. Only when Tiktala defends her friend's pup from a man with a club does she truly understand the seal and how to carve its image. The illustrations lead one to surmise that Tiktala and her people are Greenland Inuit. The book is much like Rafe Martin's The Boy Who Lived with Seals (Putnam, 1993) and Michelle Renner's The Girl Who Swam with the Fish (Alaska Northwest, 1995), but has a more noble purpose. The save-the-seals theme is not overly emphasized, even though it isn't too subtle for young readers to absorb. Shaw-MacKinnon introduces children to the demands of the creative spirit while increasing their awareness of the needs of nature and the role humans play in protecting wildlife. Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AK Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews