Wednesday, June 07, 2006

No-No the sexually molested baby seal

My older sister likes to listen to children's song and story tapes and most recently she has been listening to the tape of No-No the Seal. It is a story about a baby seal that is molested by his Uncle Seal. He tries to run away in the ocean and is scared to tell his parents, but with guidance from his friend Wise Whale he is able to tell. I remember years ago when my mom got this book and tape for my sister. I read the book and was shocked. I wasn't sure if my mom had read the story before getting the tape. The book had a picture of a fuzzy seal on the cover after all. But as unconfortable as the story is, Uncle Seal's voice is of a guffawing grandpa, perhaps the story's message is one that suggests a more appropriate response for children, for as the Neil Gilbert says, children should not be responsible for defending themselves. But I can't quite get over the weirdness of a sexually molested baby seal.

My sister's favorite song on the tape is his reflective/confliced song.

My world is falling down;
My heart is broken and sad.
When Uncle Seal's around,
I feel mixed up; I feel scared!
He is my special friend.
Why did he touch me that way?
I don't want to hurt Uncle Seal
Or make Mom and Dad bark and yell,
But this very funny feeling that I feel
Is worse because he told me not to tell.
Yes, it's worse because Uncle told me not to tell!

1 comment:

kemit33 said...

SAME! I used to love this book as a child. Singing the songs all the time.
suddenly my parents stopped letting me listen to it when the found out what it was...